Listen All of you!
I have a masters degree in chemistry and I can tell you for certain that "
vaping" propylene glycol is defenately not safe.
I work with Mono ethylene glycol an Mono propylene glycol every day and they both have very low LD50s, this means they can easily poison you.
Please be aware that what you are calling PG (propylene glycol) is a group of chemicals not a specific one, and the vast majority of Propylene glycols are dangerous.
samurisloth2 hours ago
[This what I found on utube]
To quote Jules Winfield (Our Man in Inglewood): "Allow me to retort...".
I don't have a Masters degree, just a B.S. in Chemistry from a state university. But I'd like to make a few points nonetheless.
Firstly, the LD50 (oral toxicity) of propylene glycol is about 18,500 mg/kg. Ethylene glycol comes in about four times lower at ~4700 mg/kg. Sodium chloride is about the same (I don't recommend eating fistfuls of table salt either). Another problem is that we really can't use LD50 comparisons since the
toxicity of the two is different. For example, the LD50 of arsenic is about 2400 mg/kg. Would you rather ingest 2400 mg/kg of arsenic or propylene glycol? PG is metabolized as lactic acid, which is naturally consumed in the process of anaerobic cellular respiration. EG is metabolized into oxalic acid which gives you kidney stones, organ failure and a horrible premature death. Of course you know that these differences in metabolism arise from the differences in the carbon structural backbones in the compounds (propylene and ethylene) Not the functional groups (the glycols).
Second, propylene glycol is composed of only two stereo isomers in a racemic mix. So saying "a group of chemicals" while
technically correct, is also somewhat misleading, especially since the two isomers have nearly identical physical and chemical properties. Also you stated "the vast majority of propylene glycols are dangerous. This cannot be true for two reasons: First, PG has been used by the food service industry for years without issue and is considered a safe food additive by the FDA in concentrations of 25 mL/kg or less. If it weren't for the nicotine, you could chug 5mL bottles of juice like a frat boy and experience no ill effects. Second, you can't have "a vast majority" of anything when there's only two of them. The math simply doesn't work.
In a nutshell, I guess what I'm saying here is that both of your talking points are completely flawed, and therefore, invalid.
Yours in Chemistry,
entropy1049
PS- Fun Fact! Just did a "back of an envelope" calculation based on the density of PG and it's toxicity and it would seem that ingesting 100 mL of 100 PG/0 VG, nicotine free juice (assuming you're not allergic to PG, then all bets are off)
could result in a tummy ache. And not much more...
