I have cut and used normal "cheap" silica and ekowool, both torched and not torched. I always noticed a lot of "dust" created when cutting the normal silica and far less with the ekowool. Either way, as long as the wick is thoroughly wetted with
juice before using it, the amount of particles you actually inhale should be pretty low. All I know is that the total amount of "dust" present seems to be significantly less with ekowool. Like mavric said, this is probably because it is amorphous rather than crystalline fibers. That said, I still feel a lot more comfortable using a cotton wick for the majority of my
vaping because the fibers are organic and natural rather than manufactured ceramic.