Potential health risk?

[Discord]

No, this isn't a ZOMG I'M INHALING ANTI-FREEZE thread.

A lot of the things involved with vaping are made in china, where there is generally an unknown level of attention to health and QC. People in china prefer to buy non-chinese products for this very reason (do some google searches about baby formula in china)...

so this is where I start to wonder about how "safe" things are... my issue is not with the juice... you have a lot of options there, even making your own... it's with all the PLASTIC in these things. Plastics react to heat to different degrees... ever leave a bottled water in a car all day in the sun, then take a drink and it tasted TERRIBLE? We are directly heating fluids to the point of vaporizing either in very close proximity (the tanks / bodies of cartos, clearos, etc) or in some cases maybe in direct contact with heating coils (I have no idea if polyfill or whicks are made entirely of cotton, or if they are also made of plastic?)

I know a few premium tanks are made of glass, which I love the idea of, and most cartos are metal, but clearo and small tanks have a lot of plastic very close to heating elements. Just something I'm curious about, if anyone has thought about this stuff seriously. There's a reason people avoid supposed high temperature plastics, like Teflon, when cooking... and even teflon is rated at very high temperatures... I have NO idea what plastics are being used in ecigs/vaporizors

 

[steved5600]

It's damn hard to buy electronics and the hardware in Ecigs that are not from China. Good reason to go to suppliers with reviews and check a product before you buy on here. I worry about the plastics mostly not metals as LOL they get most of it from here in scrap form. I have bought juice from there unknowingly didn't know it until I received it. Used it and never bought there again. I do not plan on buying juice from China again because of QC issues. FYI if it is Polyfill it has plastic in it. I prefer attys with silica and Stainless steel. So I vape a lot of clearo's and RBA's. YOu should still wash or rinse out new components that come in contact with juice or your mouth as oils and residues can be left behind in the mfg process. From my research no plastic is 100% safe for this but there are some that have very low risks. Glass and metal tanks are best with SS or silica wicks. Even Silica has a risk involved as it can fray and you can aspirate the fibers. With SS mesh you can inhale small amounts Chromium . So nothing is with out risk we can however reduce it to the least offensive. Glass is the best of them all on tanks. IMO.

 

[crxess]

Study and learn. There are many different types of Plastics. Gaskets and seals are Delrin and Silicone.

The very first example you pose after busting on China concerns is Water bottles Produced right in the USA.

Oh well people have to have something to stress and argue about.

ETA - Here is another Fallacy:

Even Silica has a risk involved as it can fray and you can aspirate the fibers.

It can fray. it cannot vaporize and will not travel with a vapor stream. Maybe if you Drink the juice from the tank.........

 

[parkjp]

We are all going to die of something. I think most of us switched to vapor because we were 99% sure cigarettes were bad for us. While vaping is not 100% safe its the better alternative. So plastic or no plastic I'm good with it. Rather go down vaping some cherry cola than puffing on an analog.

 

[Rodinator]

I'm kinda new to this stuff, but what scares me more are the certain juices that cause plastic tanks to break or crack- more worried about what that juice does to the body if it can destroy a tank....

 

[Thrasher]

Just something I'm curious about, if anyone has thought about this stuff seriously.

many of the cheaper items and throw aways are indeed made in china and are of questionable quality.
there is always the upper shelf stuff where very little is made shoddy or even comes from china.

my rebuildable drippers are stainless and my genesis atomizer is surgical titanium with pyrex glass, and i make my own juices using USA sourced ingredients.
i recently bought the protank and the second i see any degradation in the finish touching the juice its in the trash but i will give it a chance.

I'm kinda new to this stuff, but what scares me more are the certain juices that cause plastic tanks to break or crack- more worried about what that juice does to the body if it can destroy a tank....

while i wont vape them myself i wouldnt stress too much moist of the tanks cracking are of a polycarbonate compound and after working with this for years now it has odd reactions to some chemicals that dont seem logical, we can get acids and alcohols on PC all day but a drop of acetone and it cracks instantly, after 15 years i still think its weird.

 

[mathematicus]

i completely understand the resistance to things that can crack or frost a plastic tank. we sell protanks at out B&M (Rocky Top Vapor) and have had one customer go through three of them. the glue was just eaten up, and all we can figure out was that he was using the same juice. he had ordered some Boba's online about a week ago, and that is what he was using in those tanks. he used a different juice in his third tank, and no problems, thus far. personally, i stay away from the stuff that eats tanks. it just doesn't seem like it would be good. as for the boba's eating up the protank...that is just strange. i vaped boba's for a while about year ago and had no problems. however, the boba's he had just tasted a lot different. not sure what is up with it.

 

[TyPie]

No, this isn't a ZOMG I'M INHALING ANTI-FREEZE thread.

A lot of the things involved with vaping are made in china, where there is generally an unknown level of attention to health and QC. People in china prefer to buy non-chinese products for this very reason (do some google searches about baby formula in china)...

so this is where I start to wonder about how "safe" things are... my issue is not with the juice... you have a lot of options there, even making your own... it's with all the PLASTIC in these things. Plastics react to heat to different degrees... ever leave a bottled water in a car all day in the sun, then take a drink and it tasted TERRIBLE? We are directly heating fluids to the point of vaporizing either in very close proximity (the tanks / bodies of cartos, clearos, etc) or in some cases maybe in direct contact with heating coils (I have no idea if polyfill or whicks are made entirely of cotton, or if they are also made of plastic?)

I know a few premium tanks are made of glass, which I love the idea of, and most cartos are metal, but clearo and small tanks have a lot of plastic very close to heating elements. Just something I'm curious about, if anyone has thought about this stuff seriously. There's a reason people avoid supposed high temperature plastics, like Teflon, when cooking... and even teflon is rated at very high temperatures... I have NO idea what plastics are being used in ecigs/vaporizors

Excellent question, and valid concerns imo, Discord. I also am concerned, particularly with plastic and / or chemical components leaching into the vapor when heated. I never use ANY kind of plastic in the microwave, for example, (and I don't care how safe it is claimed to be.). Microwaved plastic in your food can't be too good for you.

For now, I believe I have to accept that vaping is much, much safer than analogs, due to the many benefits I have already begun to observe. However, I think I have tasted more plastic over the last 5 weeks than ever before. It is a concern. This is another reason why ecigs should be studied sooner rather than later.

History has also clearly shown that manufacturers in some parts of the world are far less concerned about health and safety than many of us are accustomed to. I try to keep my eyes and ears open, and try to stick with reputable names.

 

[Discord]

The very first example you pose after busting on China concerns is Water bottles Produced right in the USA.

Oh well people have to have something to stress and argue about.

I gave an example of something I figured most would be familiar with, since most of us don't get out to our local chinese ecig factory to examine their choice of materials.

as far as having to have something to stress and argue about... having been a smoker for 12ish years, inhaling toxic fumes isn't something I've spent much time stressing about. as far as arguing, nah, I'm mostly curious if any of that stuff has been looked into. IMO, if polyfill really is a plastic, and how often we see it burned and probably quite frequently accidentally inhaled, I suspect it'd be a good idea for people to ponder alternatives to occasionally directly inhaling plastic smoke.

 

[Jae Lee]

inhaling plastic if that is TRUE, would be much worse than smoking regular cigs. i'm starting to regret purchasing kanger t3. i should've went for the protanks instead.

 

[Discord]

I'd love a 1.5-2.5ml clearomizer made of glass and metal, using an SS mesh wick

 

[RT88]

You are correct in your thought processes. as was said, it's all made in china, so thats one reason i dont use knockoff of anything. one of the few knockoffs i tried was sub-standard, barely contacts battery, wont fire unless tightened max max. i threw it away i dont even want the tank or tip

i think the big companies like Vision use better acrylic or what the tanks are made of. i like the authentic Vision 2.0 they have not frosted, cracked or any change in wide variety of liquids. good taste, i checked the coils on 6 and found just 1 tightly spaced coil so opened it up. the other 5 were uniform. good wicks too Yes i carry around 6 flavors lol

 

[Zac Seif]

IS it bad for you to inhale the flavored stuff though? I've always wondered how safe that could be. It's my only concern with vaping. Isn't it high frustose syrup? Is that really okay to inhale?

 

[Discord]

from what I understand most of the "flavor" comes from high concentration flavors used in things like what gets added to flavored coffees. by volume it's tiny compared to the PG/VG content, and most of it is suspended in alcohol, which mostly evaporates during the mixing process. the sweet flavors have other things added to make them sweet, but for the most part it won't be a lot of pure sugars (such as HFCS), since those would caramelize around the heating elements

 

[Ryedan]

A lot of the things involved with vaping are made in china, where there is generally an unknown level of attention to health and QC. People in china prefer to buy non-chinese products for this very reason (do some google searches about baby formula in china)...

so this is where I start to wonder about how "safe" things are... my issue is not with the juice... you have a lot of options there, even making your own... it's with all the PLASTIC in these things. Plastics react to heat to different degrees... ever leave a bottled water in a car all day in the sun, then take a drink and it tasted TERRIBLE? We are directly heating fluids to the point of vaporizing either in very close proximity (the tanks / bodies of cartos, clearos, etc) or in some cases maybe in direct contact with heating coils (I have no idea if polyfill or whicks are made entirely of cotton, or if they are also made of plastic?)

Discord, taking the second point first, you raise a very valid point about mixing certain plastics with juices and at high temperatures. As someone who has had a few decades experience in plastic molding, I know the stuff can do some really weird things in the wrong environment. This is not so much a QC issue as one of design. Chose the right plastic in your design and all is well with minimal QC concerns. In other words, quality is designed into the process. Yes, QC is responsible for making sure the right plastic continues to be used ... but that takes us into my next point.

China and health issues. E-cigs as we know them now originated in China in 2004. By 2005 China was exporting them and I believe they have continued to export the majority of e-cig product sold in the world since. AFAIK there has never been a health issue with their products. Why should I worry about about QC when for the last eight years a supplier has not let me down?

 

[Kelltess2]

Thank you Discord -I have the exact same concern and would luv to find an all stainlees steel and Glass apparatus. I also question vaping these citrus fruits some of which crack the plastics-it must be very potent to cause this type of combustion .

 

[Ryedan]

I'm kinda new to this stuff, but what scares me more are the certain juices that cause plastic tanks to break or crack- more worried about what that juice does to the body if it can destroy a tank....

This kind of thing can be quite deceptive. Have a look at what Coke can do to a rusted coin.

Would you drink Coke?

 

[Kelltess2]

Can you give me the name of that clearomizer (glass/metal) and the ss wick -plus where I can find it -- total newbie here --Thanks Discord

 

[Discord]

I was just saying I'd love to find one premade like that. closest I can think of is probably the Kanger ProTank (metal construction, has a glass tank) that's been modified with either SS mesh or ceramic wicks

 

[Milkhoney]

This kind of thing can be quite deceptive. Have a look at what Coke can do to a rusted coin.

Would you drink Coke?

I guess no one else did that science experiement where they soaked teeth in coke for a few days.

I do feel that my juices taste more true in my Protank compared to my T3s, and I assume that's just because it's glass. I think most drinks taste better in glass bottles than plastic ones or metal cans as well, and I'm sure that's because glass isn't going to be broken down in microscopic amounts like metal or plastic might.

With the tank eating juices, I'd worry a lot about vaping something in a tank that was basically melting, because then it does seem like you might be vaping plastic. In a Protank, I don't really worry. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and I know there's plenty of things that we can ingest that are fairly strong chemicals on their own. I have a spearmint juice that fogged a T3, but I have some essential oils in my fridge that will do the same thing to polycarbonite, and I add those to food and beauty products and candles.

Eventually I would like to use only Protanks or other glass, but for me they aren't cheap enough to buy several at once, and I do really like the way Kanger T3 performs. I am slightly concerned about vaping in plastic, I'm slightly concerned about silica or cotton wicks, I'm slightly concerned about vaping flavorings at all. I'm slightly concerned about habitual inhalation of VG and PG. I also smoked cigarettes for 15 years, and I knew how terrible those were. It's rather funny to me how ex-smokers can be so extremely concerned about their health as soon as they give up the cancer sticks.