DIY VG/PG Purity - USP Food Grade?

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Cicatrize

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I did a lot of research on this and I just couldn't find a definitive answer. I bought a bunch of DIY supplies that are coming today and I just want to make sure I'm doing this safely. There doesn't seem to be a consensus on purity. Some people say food grade is fine, some say pharmaceutical grade is necessary.

Here's what I bought:
Amazon.com: Propylene Glycol - Food Grade USP - 16 oz. - 100% Pure - Highest Quality and Purity: Industrial & Scientific
Amazon.com: Nature's Oil USP Kosher Vegetable Glycerin Gallon - 10 lbs

They both say USP and are defined as Food Grade, and people use them for their DIY juice. I couldn't find pharma grade on Amazon. Is this stuff OK to vape? I read something about food grade being fine for consumption but not for inhalation, and it makes me a little worried.
 

dannyv45

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Those brands have been discussed before. There safe to use. But if you have doubts essential depot brand is by far the most popular and widely used here on ECF. The same holds true for there VG as well. Purity and taste are excellent for DIY use.

Propylene Glycol: Essential Depot
 
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Cicatrize

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Those brands have been discussed before. There safe to use. But if you have doubts essential depot brand is by far the most popular and widely used here on ECF. The same holds true for there VG as well. Purity and taste are excellent for DIY use.

Propylene Glycol: Essential Depot
Awesome, thanks! My VG is probably going to last me a while, but I'll look into Essential Depot for the next gallon.
 

bwh79

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Right, but they make sure to explicitly state that it is in fact "food" grade.
All squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares.

All USP is food-grade, but not all food-grade is USP. So labeling something as both "USP" and "food-grade" is not necessarily incorrect; if it is in fact USP, then it is, by definition, also food-grade as well.
 
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mhertz

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For the record, USP or EP and food-grade(fcc), are often the same high standards, but sometimes they differ, and so to be absolutely sure of getting the purest "mainstream" product, then we use pharma-grade(USP and/or EP) whenever the product has a monograph available in said compendiums. PG and VG has monographs, so we go for USP/EP there of course. Btw, many shops and ebay/amazon dealers lists food-grade, because that's appeals more to the public, as the consumers not using it for ecigs don't know what USP means. A product can easily be both USP and food-grade.

Lastly, some state food-grade, because well, it is food-grade, but also because they buy big drums of USP VG/PG and then when they open and distribute into smaller bottles, then I don't know for a fact, because couldn't find proper evidence, but likely is correct, but they state that they need an iso-8 cleanroom for the redistributing or else they "break" the USP grade specs... Many of the VG's we use are like that, but as long as reputable seller then I trust them fine. Also, if going 100% by the USP spec, then not in the main monograph for glycerin but in the beginning chapters of the general USP articles they state that the product is to be listed 'Glycerin USP' on the label(monograph-name USP) and no other combinations i.e. 'VG' or 'Vegetal Glycerin 99.7% USP", which is very rarely the case for what we buy, but it's properly like that in the original drums the resellers buy...

Also, USP/EP isn't meaning OK for inhalation, and all the VG's we use doesn't list inhalation as OK in the MSDS's, but as it's a pretty pure product(99%+, and usually 99.8 for USP VG) and there's decades of tests done for inhaling PG/VG, then it's considered fine to do anyway. To be "inhaling-certified" the manufacturer need an additional license in addition to being USP grade...

Edit: bwh79, I fully understand what you mean, and it seems logical, but i'm not 100% sure we can always say that. There could be very slight differences, where the food-grade monograph has a substance listed for test that isn't mentioned in the USP. I agree that would be odd. Anyway, the most proper answer to why that isn't always so, is that to be able to say food-grade, you have to specifically test against said monograph, like with USP. If you haven't, you cannot state food-grade, even though it would pass most likely always. I have seen a bunch(50+) COA and MSDSs etc, and sometimes they state USP and/or EP, + e.g. E422/FCC, and other-times not, but that just goes to show if the manufacturer bothered to test against the food-grade monograph. If they don't market for food, then they sometimes don't bother.. In general terms, we can probably say that USP = food-grade, but not always other way around...
 
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bwh79

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There could be very slight differences, where the food-grade monograph has a substance listed for test that isn't mentioned in the USP.

I'm not even sure that "food-grade" is an official designation. I'm doing some googling here, and all I'm finding reference to are FCC (Food Chemicals Codex) and N.F. (National Formulary). The only "food grades" that pop up are grading, like "are these eggs grade A or grade AA?", and "find out more information about food-grade lubricants." In any case, it says here that USP is "acceptable for food ... use." I think that's about as "food-grade" as it gets, don't you agree?

"A chemical grade of sufficient purity to meet or exceed requirements of the United States Pharmacopeia (USP); acceptable for food, drug, or medicinal use; may be used for most laboratory purposes."
 

mhertz

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I maybe wrong, but I believe it's just as official designation as USP... USP doesn't enforce, only sets up standards, and the e.g. FDA enforces(and whatever local law governments)... Yeah, I agree that USP is OK for food, but i'm here talking purely semantics...

To be USP grade, you need to test specifically against each test-procedure e.g. gc/mc assay purity in the USP compendias monograph. To be food-grade(FCC), you need to specifically test against the provided monograph in the FCC compendias...

If you have tested both, you can state e.g. both USP and E422 on your VG's spec. If only the USP spec has been tested against, then USP is the only (proven)grade.

If i'm wrong, I apologize in advance ;)

Edit: Btw, it's a "jungle" to look up precisely... One place states one thing, and another the exact oposite, lol... It's a bit technical and many just assumes something without specifically checking it up... Including me, lol... Well, not really, because I always look the things up, but just either doesn't find it, or it's contradictory between sources, or over my head...
 
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