Fog machines & glycol-based liquids & e-cigg

[TropicalBob]

If it does dehydrate us from the inside, then is increasing our water consumption adequate? I suppose there are health places with information on "rehydration" for those with dry skin, etc.

Course, in Florida, we have staggeringly high humidity much of the time, so PG could be slathered on our skin to draw moisture from the air. But its reverse point is 70% relative humidity: Air-conditioned buildings and even outdoor air in many parts of the country are below that figure, meaning moisture would leave the skin where PG has been applied. It would dry out that area of skin.

We put PG on our throats and lung surfaces.

One concern that could come up: Dry throat and nasal passages are a welcome mat for rhinoviruses during cold and flu season. It's arguable, but some researchers think we carry these viruses year 'round, and that they are activated by cold air and enter through cracks in dry throats. A red, raw throat is .. dry, and microscopically as cracked as a dried-up lake bed.

I reported a story years ago on a plant researcher who tracked a particular crop-food virus only to discover that the virus was dormant until the overnight temperature dropped below 60 degrees. It then sprang to life and attacked the plant. He thought his findings might have some application to viruses that make us ill.

[electro]

I found an article in the news today, where they had asked an expert in cancer what he thought about e-cigs, and he said that when sugar is burned like in e-cigs it creates formaldehyde, which is known to be a risk factor. So he was not impressed by this new device......

I must say that after reading this and also reading this tread, I have lost my (naive?) idea of a healthy way of smoking.
I am on my way to buy a packet of cigarettes, at least I have survived using them for 37years. Would I have survived if I had 'smoked sugar' instead?.....
I think I will only use it when visiting friends who do not allow smoking. But what to say when they ask me if the e-smoke is any better than tobacco smoke?
And is it a matter of time before e-cigs become illegal in public? Then we can sit at home with our strange devices and feel like vapor junkies.

[Nazareth]

Yuo are smoking sugars inj cigarettes as soem manufacturers use sugar i ntheir mixes and drying techniques. E-Ciggs do not burn any sugar, they atomize and vaporize- a much different process than burning- the Doc in the article didn't know what he was talkign about- also, you may have survived smokign real ciggs, but you've upped the risk factor by magnitudes doing so as real ciggs contain 4000+ chemicals whereas eciggs do not, and real ciggs contain 60 or so known carcinogens whereas eciggs contain many less- perhaps none-

[TropicalBob]

The doctor expert should know of the practice of burning sugar in sick rooms. This is from Washington Post archives from Harper's Bazaar:

The burning of sugar in the sick room has long been practiced, though many of our physicians smile when it is done, regardless of scientific tests which have proved its efficacy.

In other words, dose makes the poison. The amount of burned sugar we might get in vapor could help us every bit as easily as it could hurt us. I was reading ingredients on mouthwashes the other night, and the "green, organic" crowd's favorites had one main ingredient to kill those germs and freshen the breath: Vegetable glycerine at 22%. The rest is mostly distilled water.

[mr_mitch]

regarding the initial post:
from what I saw on the net, most commercial stuff for fog machines is not only made from PG and water but most of them contain poliethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, dipropylene glycol and triethylene glycol (causes fertility problems in rats ). all of these are toxic, or way more toxic than PG.

They are using them in various proportions to make fog more thick, to last more, to have it stay at various levels above the ground etc.
Also, in clubs, they prefer to use more triethylene glicol than PG because PG and glycerine leave a slimy residue on the walls and everywhere but TG doesn't. TG also gives a longer lasting fog.

Ok, so if PG leaves "slimey residue" on the walls of night-clubs... surely it does the same to the inside of your lungs?

[MagusSteele]

No
First off, your lungs clean then selfs, and Walls dont.
Second, those ingredients are NOT legal to use in public.
We had a health inspector, and it had to be FDA approved and non allergenic, which is PG or VG, the PE (poliethylene glycol) can be deadly if over exposed.
There are some brands from china i have seen over the years that had that in it, however, you can not use it long, because it normally burns the eyes. (or at least makes them tear)
VG and PG do have mixes, and synthetics, but, pharmasudical grade or Food grade (even better) will-not-hurt-you. You have at least 20 products in your house right now that you or your family use EVERYday at this very moment that has at least one of those chemicals in it. most types of Hair, Skin, Makeup, Aftershave, deoderant, and so on, all use Glycol/glycerin in one form or another. Even your "Power/Health Bars" are held together with Glycerin.

Burning at high temperture Will change it, but thats when it gets bitter, smells bad, like burnt grass clippings/cloriphil smelling, and it gets sickly sweet. You will know, before it builds up enough to hurt you.

"Simey Residue"? your body is FULL of the stuff, because its built that way. A bus driving by you, is worse then useing this stuff for a month.
I am no doctor, but i just know from expierence.

[mr_mitch]

No
First off, your lungs clean then selfs, and Walls dont.
Second, those ingredients are NOT legal to use in public.
We had a health inspector, and it had to be FDA approved and non allergenic, which is PG or VG, the PE (poliethylene glycol) can be deadly if over exposed.
There are some brands from china i have seen over the years that had that in it, however, you can not use it long, because it normally burns the eyes. (or at least makes them tear)
VG and PG do have mixes, and synthetics, but, pharmasudical grade or Food grade (even better) will-not-hurt-you. You have at least 20 products in your house right now that you or your family use EVERYday at this very moment that has at least one of those chemicals in it. most types of Hair, Skin, Makeup, Aftershave, deoderant, and so on, all use Glycol/glycerin in one form or another. Even your "Power/Health Bars" are held together with Glycerin.

Burning at high temperture Will change it, but thats when it gets bitter, smells bad, like burnt grass clippings/cloriphil smelling, and it gets sickly sweet. You will know, before it builds up enough to hurt you.

"Simey Residue"? your body is FULL of the stuff, because its built that way. A bus driving by you, is worse then useing this stuff for a month.
I am no doctor, but i just know from expierence.

you're probably right, I just wish it could be proven safe for inhalation, as there seems to be a lot of contradictory reports flying around.

[MagusSteele]

Propylene Glycol USP/EP (PG USP/EP)

Propylene Glycol