Safety of E-Liquid from China

[Ohmegas]

The thread title is pretty self-explanatory. Not trying to be prejudiced or discriminative here, just wondering if anyone might have some insight into the overall safety of e-liquid from China? I ask only because I know that e-liquid made in the U.S. is certified to be food grade (as per the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention) and therefore safe to ingest. Not sure if that is the case with Chinese e-liquids and even if it was, how consistent is adherence to this? A flea market not too far from my parents' place sells e-liquid pretty cheap - three 30ml bottles for $20 (CAD) but is rumoured to have all their liquids made in China and shipped to Canada.

Just want to be sure that this cheap e-liquid won't come back and bite me in the .... down the road, not to mention it may be in the interest to have this as common knowledge for my fellow vapers.

 

[lovemytank]

Love hardware from China and tried some juice from there also, it was awesome. In fact that vanilla was so fantastic I tried to do some research. I couldnt translate any of the google info since it was all in Chinese and it had to have been at least 80% flavoring. Who knows, it tasted great but I erred to caution and gave it to a braver friend. Who knows, most of the ejuice in the US is probably made in someones garage or kitchen so once again who knows. I like my juice which I make in my office with dogs, cats and who knows running around. Who knows? If you do please reply.

 

[WonderDude32]

I'm all for someone saving a dollar but if possible, I try to buy domestic. Is this to say that I don't buy from places like Fasttech? Of course I do. If American clones worked as well, I would buy from them instead. Unless you're reading this post from the back of your yacht, then chances are that you are budget minded, like me. I don't want anyone to tax my liquids or any other vaping gear but if it controls safety then tax away.

 

[Ohmegas]

Let's try to stay on topic regarding the safety of the e-liquids from China and not whether or not it is cheaper than American e-liquids (that's a no brainer ).

 

[xtwosm0kesx]

Assuming you stick the the giants of Chinese liquid such as Hangsen and Dekang etc, they are manufactured at facilities which meet pretty exacting standards.

Here's a pretty LOL promo video that shows some of Hangsens facilities.

 

[DoctorJ]

There are no regulatory standards in the US nor in China as far as ejuice goes. However, there are standards for the major ingredients: nicotine base, PG and VG, However, these products that are used specifically for the vape industry are USP-grade, meaning they have, at a maximum, the accepted levels of impurities determined by the United States Pharmacopeia. The USP generates “standards for the identity, strength, quality and purity of medicines, food ingredients and dietary supplements” which are enforceable in the United States by the FDA and often used as guidelines around the world. It is not clear if this is the case in China. The wild card with ejuices is the source of flavoring. Some flavor vendors advertise their product as organic, but this can mean that the "base" of the flavor came from organic sources. This does not mean any other part of the flavoring is organic.

So to answer your question of the safety of Chinese ejuices, your guess is as good as mine! There have been reports of diactyl in custard type ejuices from US vendors; just search for Mother's Milk by Suicide Bunny here on the forum. I've seen reports of other vendors as well (I'm not singling out Mother's Milk, that's just the biggest one that I know about). There are reports of other chemicals that are not supposed to be inhaled as well, but I'm not as familiar with them. I guess what it all boils down to at this point is the reputation and honesty of the vendor. Until the FDA steps in and starts regulating ejuice, we will never truly know about domestic vendors. If you are familiar with the outsourcing of goods to China and their importation back into the US, mainly I'm referring to the cat food that killed many cats, I doubt we will ever know the true safety of Chinese products.

 

[man00ver]

Knowing, as we all should, that none of this vaping stuff is guaranteed to be perfectly safe, the only thing I can really tell you is that I haven't heard any horror stories about Chinese liquids.

I've heard good reports, though. And I personally used a Hangsen flavor to stop smoking cigarettes.

 

[Ohmegas]

There have been reports of diactyl in custard type ejuices from US vendors; just search for Mother's Milk by Suicide Bunny here on the forum. I've seen reports of other vendors as well (I'm not singling out Mother's Milk, that's just the biggest one that I know about). There are reports of other chemicals that are not supposed to be inhaled as well, but I'm not as familiar with them. I guess what it all boils down to at this point is the reputation and honesty of the vendor. Until the FDA steps in and starts regulating ejuice, we will never truly know about domestic vendors. If you are familiar with the outsourcing of goods to China and their importation back into the US, mainly I'm referring to the cat food that killed many cats, I doubt we will ever know the true safety of Chinese products.

I heard about this from one of my coworkers as he was mentioning something regarding the harmful effects of custard-flavoured liquids, great to know this was the cause. Just some skimming on diacetyl from what I found on Google. It does not appear that there is any direct or empirical correlation between any negative effects of inhaling liquids containing diacetyl via an electronic cigarette. Workers in several factories that manufacture diacetyl were diagnosed with bronchiolitis obliterans, a rare and serious disease of the lungs. The cases found have been mainly in young, healthy, non-smoking males. The reason I mention this is because the only sample data known-to-date is the case where a consumer, who ate at least two bags of buttery microwave popcorn daily for 10 years, became diagnosed with bronchiolitis obliterans. His lung problems were linked to breathing the vapours and it was reported that the man's kitchen also had diacetyl levels comparable to those in popcorn plants.

Side note however, I did some research on the brand in question that I was told was imported from China. Looks like the liquid may be manufactured in Canada after all. The brand is called Vape King and is owned by a company known as S.K. International which seems to be based out of Richmond, British Columbia. All of their contact information seems to be Canada-based as well. Weird..