The ones I know as being safe are Capellas and Flavourart as far as the current best practices in manufacturing. And even among those you have to educate yourself. For example, the Flavourart does have the diacetyl in some of their flavorings, but they are very transparent with that information and it's fairly simple to avoid those flavors. I just recently learned that the Decadent Vapor line is working on getting completely diacetyl free, with it only still appearing in a couple flavors.
And vendors also have a responsibility, too. We do not know what flavorings many of them use so it is up to them to make sure they are providing us safe juice. If they are using Flavourart, they obviously have to be using diacetyl whether they (the vendor) is aware of it or not, and this is where it is important that they do their homework, too, or at the very least list what flavorings they use so that we can educate ourselves.
As to whether or not there is regulation for in-home food production (which is what creating the flavors apparently falls under), a lot depends on the state. I believe California has some stringent regulations. But it's kinda sad that is what you're holding up as your benchmark for safety. We use products in a very different way than what they were originally conceived and, as the Flavourart information early posted shows, our digestive systems protect us from ourselves now and then; we don't have that with our lungs; there are no enzymes or acids to break down these chemicals or send them off to the liver to get filtered out; if we put it into our lungs, it's going right into our blood stream pretty much as is. And keep in mind also that flavoring creation is not like cooking. It isn't taking "essence of chocolate" and decanting it into a smaller bottle. Instead it's a matter of using molecules to create the flavor; speaking for myself, I like the idea that the person mixing up the chemicals I'm about to inhale has a firm grasp on chemistry when they're whipping these things up.
Yes, we presume that it's safer to vape than to smoke; the common argument is that it's 4,000+ chemicals in a cigarette versus 3-4 for the ecig. But it's the constituents of some of those 3-4 that could trip us up, and, as with diacetyl, it only takes 1 to be a bad thing. I know that vaping could not possibly be 100% safe; heck, I live in an agricultural area with livestock so I'm not even sure breathing the way when the wind is southerly is 100% safe. But most of us are vaping to try not to suffer any more damage from cigarettes; we owe it to ourselves to take some precautions to make sure that we are doing that as safely as we can.
And vendors also have a responsibility, too. We do not know what flavorings many of them use so it is up to them to make sure they are providing us safe juice. If they are using Flavourart, they obviously have to be using diacetyl whether they (the vendor) is aware of it or not, and this is where it is important that they do their homework, too, or at the very least list what flavorings they use so that we can educate ourselves.
As to whether or not there is regulation for in-home food production (which is what creating the flavors apparently falls under), a lot depends on the state. I believe California has some stringent regulations. But it's kinda sad that is what you're holding up as your benchmark for safety. We use products in a very different way than what they were originally conceived and, as the Flavourart information early posted shows, our digestive systems protect us from ourselves now and then; we don't have that with our lungs; there are no enzymes or acids to break down these chemicals or send them off to the liver to get filtered out; if we put it into our lungs, it's going right into our blood stream pretty much as is. And keep in mind also that flavoring creation is not like cooking. It isn't taking "essence of chocolate" and decanting it into a smaller bottle. Instead it's a matter of using molecules to create the flavor; speaking for myself, I like the idea that the person mixing up the chemicals I'm about to inhale has a firm grasp on chemistry when they're whipping these things up.
Yes, we presume that it's safer to vape than to smoke; the common argument is that it's 4,000+ chemicals in a cigarette versus 3-4 for the ecig. But it's the constituents of some of those 3-4 that could trip us up, and, as with diacetyl, it only takes 1 to be a bad thing. I know that vaping could not possibly be 100% safe; heck, I live in an agricultural area with livestock so I'm not even sure breathing the way when the wind is southerly is 100% safe. But most of us are vaping to try not to suffer any more damage from cigarettes; we owe it to ourselves to take some precautions to make sure that we are doing that as safely as we can.
Yes, I am going to be doing A LOT of reading for awhile!
