That was a nasty surprize!

[LeftofCenter]

I usually clean out my drip tip when I clean my tank (at least once a day). I usually run hot water through it and then either let it air dry or twirl up the corner of a paper towel and dry it that way. Today at work without rinsing first I did the paper towel twirl and it came away dark and nasty! It was just cleaned last night. Out of curiosity, after it was well cleaned, I pulled a Kleenex over the tip and pulled a few mouthfuls through to see what the Kleenex would look like. After only 3 pulls it was already getting brown with a couple little dark particles stuck to it. Now granted I am vaping a darker juice right now, but it still makes me wonder just how much gunk is still getting into my lungs. Hmmm, I wonder if I can outfit my tip with an extra filter layer without compromising too much vapor or flavor.

 

[Circa Survivor]

A pipe cleaner will work wonders.

 

[Racehorse]

A pipe cleaner will work wonders.

How would that keep stuff from going into his lungs? I think that is what he wants to know.

The reason he is having to clean his drip tip in the first place is because "After only 3 pulls it was already getting brown with a couple little dark particles stuck to it. "

OP, have you TRIED other juices just to see if it is your juice, or the way the juice isn't getting entirely vaporized in your delivery device, etc.

 

[HecticEnergy]

I'm sure we are exposing our lungs to stuff that you don't normally find in the air - or at least significantly higher volumes of stuff you may find normally in the air. Definitely more studies need to be done.
From what I've read so far though, in the tests that they have done the particles are too large to cause damage to the lungs in the same way inhaling burning particles does. That doesn't mean that it isn't coating our lungs in crap, and I have no idea what the lungs would do with that. In the short term it doesnt seem to do much if any damage or I'm sure we'd be hearing more about it - some vapers have asthmatics and claim it actually decreases their symptoms. I'm not sure what that means, but it seems to be that if anyone would show early symptoms of this causing breathing problems I would guess asthmatics would show symptoms first.
Long story short: More research needs to be done

 

[Circa Survivor]

How would that keep stuff from going into his lungs? I think that is what he wants to know.

The reason he is having to clean his drip tip in the first place is because "After only 3 pulls it was already getting brown with a couple little dark particles stuck to it. "

OP, have you TRIED other juices just to see if it is your juice, or the way the juice isn't getting entirely vaporized in your delivery device, etc.

I thought he meant that there was still gunk in there that he didn't get out to begin with. Don't be a poop.

 

[St0rm]

Some info on pg: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1675525

 

[Racehorse]

Long story short: More research needs to be done

Yes and no.

You already said, and I think everyone will agree, that exposing lungs to anything "extra" is not really optimal, esp. for older and damaged lungs that smoked for decades.

Vaping is harm reduction. Not harm free.

If I don't vape for a few days, my lungs do feel lighter and better, similar to how they felt lighter and better when I gave up cigs. So each is a step, IMHO.

If you need to stay on vapes to avoid smoking then I would vape forever. Because it's better than smoking, no matter how you cut it.

However, there are still some people, like myself, who don't want extra stuff in lungs anymore than I will already be getting by breathing dirty air. I understand people will split hairs over this, not interested in that conversation.

I am battling a possible nickel and other metal allergy right now, and am seeing a specialist (nickel allergy is very common) but I am getting tested because I am having some problems with certain metals possibly being too high in my body.

So, I would not want to "add" more metal exposure (and that includes foods high in tin, nickel, chromium etc.) but also stuff that has to do with vaping. all this is measurable with the proper testing with a good allergist/immunologist.

So, not everything is about LUNGs. There are other things that your body has to deal with and may not like. Right now, if metals are wreaking havoc in my body, Any and All exposure will have to be looked at, so that would include vaping.

Some people run into that problem with PG, it's not a "lung thing" but a allergy/sensitivity thing. For them it is systemic, not lung specific.

 

[sparkky1]

I usually clean out my drip tip when I clean my tank (at least once a day). I usually run hot water through it and then either let it air dry or twirl up the corner of a paper towel and dry it that way. Today at work without rinsing first I did the paper towel twirl and it came away dark and nasty! It was just cleaned last night. Out of curiosity, after it was well cleaned, I pulled a Kleenex over the tip and pulled a few mouthfuls through to see what the Kleenex would look like. After only 3 pulls it was already getting brown with a couple little dark particles stuck to it. Now granted I am vaping a darker juice right now, but it still makes me wonder just how much gunk is still getting into my lungs. Hmmm, I wonder if I can outfit my tip with an extra filter layer without compromising too much vapor or flavor.

Are you running a clearomizer ?

 

[VHRB2014]

Or?

Vape a cleaner clearer juice.

 

[HecticEnergy]

Yes and no.

You already said, and I think everyone will agree, that exposing lungs to anything "extra" is not really optimal, esp. for older and damaged lungs that smoked for decades.

Vaping is harm reduction. Not harm free.

If I don't vape for a few days, my lungs do feel lighter and better, similar to how they felt lighter and better when I gave up cigs. So each is a step, IMHO.

If you need to stay on vapes to avoid smoking then I would vape forever. Because it's better than smoking, no matter how you cut it.

However, there are still some people, like myself, who don't want extra stuff in lungs anymore than I will already be getting by breathing dirty air. I understand people will split hairs over this, not interested in that conversation.

I am battling a possible nickel and other metal allergy right now, and am seeing a specialist (nickel allergy is very common) but I am getting tested because I am having some problems with certain metals possibly being too high in my body.

So, I would not want to "add" more metal exposure (and that includes foods high in tin, nickel, chromium etc.) but also stuff that has to do with vaping. all this is measurable with the proper testing with a good allergist/immunologist.

So, not everything is about LUNGs. There are other things that your body has to deal with and may not like. Right now, if metals are wreaking havoc in my body, Any and All exposure will have to be looked at, so that would include vaping.

Some people run into that problem with PG, it's not a "lung thing" but a allergy/sensitivity thing. For them it is systemic, not lung specific.

I dont disagree with any of this
I went to the lungs because the post: how much gunk is still getting into my lungs.

 

[LeftofCenter]

I really was just surprised mostly, I am sure there is a lot of factors in why it was so dirty. I am running a Nautilus right now and the coil is a bit old so that would play into it. The juice is a high VG, but it is also a dark sweet juice so that would be a factor too.
Bottom line is I feel better vaping than I do smoking, but I am going to see what I can do to reduce the "crap in my lungs" even further.
I will try to see how things look with lighter juices and different tanks. It's all a learning curve.

 

[Steamix]

Vaping does put stuff in your lungs that breathing itself doesn't.
Smoking puts a whole lot more stuff in your lungs than vaping.
Breathing near a busy intersection probably puts a lot more gunk in your lungs than vaping in the countryside does.

Body's immune system and other defences are there to handle a certain level of onslaught. Even the regular 'fresh' air you might breathe in an unspoilt countryside is laden with pollen, spores, particles, etc, etc...

As it's been said : its all about harm reduction.

Wanna go overboard - get a completely airtight sealed home fed through an elaborate filtering systems and canned air.
Go the other extreme - move downwind of some recycling plant in Africa or the Far East, where they don't look so hard into compliance with environmental regs...

Somewhere in between, you'll find most of the folks...vaping, smoking, living ...

Where you wish to position yourself on that bell curve is largely your decision

 

[Racehorse]

Some info on pg: Antibacterial and antifungal properties of propylene glycol, hexyle... - PubMed - NCBI

10 brands of Baby Wipes have been recalled both in canada and the US due to bacterial contamination----specifically, B. cepacia, which is a human respiratory pathogen in people with weakened immune systems or chronic lung disease.

Baby wipes contain quite a bit of PG as well as certain alcohols that are also bacteriostatic.

In the past, several states had clusters of pneumonia and other infections caused by the bacteria, which ended up being connected to contaminated mouthwash. Mouthwash has quite a lot of PG and/or alcohol in it.

I think science research articles are great, but you have to use real science when interpretting them as well.

I will not attempt to comment on the inability of pathogens to stay alive in ejuice since I am not a scientist, but I think there has to be an answer somewhere.

As Steamix said, our immune systems are designed to deal with stuff......and then sometimes, they don't.

I am running a Nautilus right now and the coil is a bit old .

The makers of the nautilus have warnings on the boxes that say how often you should change out a coil. I would follow those recommendations.

 

[sparkky1]

I really was just surprised mostly, I am sure there is a lot of factors in why it was so dirty. I am running a Nautilus right now and the coil is a bit old so that would play into it. The juice is a high VG, but it is also a dark sweet juice so that would be a factor too.
Bottom line is I feel better vaping than I do smoking, but I am going to see what I can do to reduce the "crap in my lungs" even further.
I will try to see how things look with lighter juices and different tanks. It's all a learning curve.

How often do you change your heads ?

 

[sparkky1]

10 brands of Baby Wipes have been recalled both in canada and the US due to bacterial contamination----specifically, B. cepacia, which is a human respiratory pathogen in people with weakened immune systems or chronic lung disease.

Baby wipes contain quite a bit of PG as well as certain alcohols that are also bacteriostatic.

In the past, several states had clusters of pneumonia and other infections caused by the bacteria, which ended up being connected to contaminated mouthwash. Mouthwash has quite a lot of PG and/or alcohol in it.

I think science research articles are great, but you have to use real science when interpretting them as well.

I will not attempt to comment on the inability of pathogens to stay alive in ejuice since I am not a scientist, but I think there has to be an answer somewhere.

As Steamix said, our immune systems are designed to deal with stuff......and then sometimes, they don't.

Are you SERIOUS ? your worried about PG ?
Try inhaling
:Acetone – found in nail polish remover
Acetic Acid – an ingredient in hair dye
Ammonia – a common household cleaner
Arsenic – used in rat poison
Benzene – found in rubber cement
Butane – used in lighter fluid
Cadmium – active component in battery acid
Carbon Monoxide – released in car exhaust fumes
Formaldehyde – embalming fluid
Hexamine – found in barbecue lighter fluid
Lead – used in batteries
Naphthalene – an ingredient in moth balls
Methanol – a main component in rocket fuel

Tar – material for paving roads
Toluene - used to manufacture paint

 

[sparkky1]

What you are inhaling is the char from your dirty coils which could happen, maybe change them more often or try a better more efficient tank / coil.The ejuice will be or become dark that is the nicotine oxidizing the flavoring, like tea but I don't notice it staining my teeth
I ate dirt to when I was a kid.

 

[VHRB2014]

Are you SERIOUS ? your worried about PG ?
Try inhaling
:Acetone – found in nail polish remover
Acetic Acid – an ingredient in hair dye
Ammonia – a common household cleaner
Arsenic – used in rat poison
Benzene – found in rubber cement
Butane – used in lighter fluid
Cadmium – active component in battery acid
Carbon Monoxide – released in car exhaust fumes
Formaldehyde – embalming fluid
Hexamine – found in barbecue lighter fluid
Lead – used in batteries
Naphthalene – an ingredient in moth balls
Methanol – a main component in rocket fuel

Tar – material for paving roads
Toluene - used to manufacture paint

Or?

Go live in China, LOL.

(I thought we were`nt "going there" but there we wound up nevertheless. )

 

[LeftofCenter]

Yeah, I guess I need to get better about changing my heads more often. Either that or start building my own.

 

[denali_41]

well this brown gunk getting inside your DT's is actually normal,rinsing with just water won't remove it either you have to actually scrape to remove it

higher VG and some vendor juice will gunk it up faster

i make my own juice with nothing added ,,high PG and plain ol flavoring ,,it takes about a month before that gunk starts to show up inside the tips

 

[sparkky1]

Yeah, I guess I need to get better about changing my heads more often. Either that or start building my own.

Now that has been the best idea I've hear yet !! LEMO RTA you'll be askin yourself I wish I did this a long time ago...