The Final Word on Propylene Glycol vs. Polyethylene Glycol
Filed under: Vaping Health Evidence Leave a comment
October 21, 2013
I keep reading warnings, many by the uneducated masses of parrots populating the green face of the Earth and some by the supposedly educated, medical professionals of the world, which impress upon those being warned that the liquid used in E-cigarettes is also used in antifreeze, making it extremely toxic to human beings and animals, too, allegedly. The truth, of course, is both more complicated and simpler than the lies and misconceptions surrounding this volatile, semi-political topic based on the rising popularity of electronic cigarettes, purported to be a healthy alternative to real (analog) tobacco products. This antifreeze scare is nothing new. The most vehement of the anti-smoking gang (the ones who think anything cylindrical, brought to the mouth on a regular basis is a gateway drug to Marlboro Reds) immediately leapt upon the jugular of the first E-cigarettes to hit the First World and disected their ingredients until they found something, anything, that could be used to demonize them to the public who, ironically, were looking for a different way to quit smoking. They found that one of the main ingredients in e-liquid was polyethylene glycol, which is used in antifreeze and is fairly toxic to humans in large quantities. The E-cigarette industry answered by changing that ingredient to propylene glycol, a much safer alternative. In fact, although propylene glycol (or PG) is used in antifreeze as well, its only used in RV and Marine antifreeze, colored pink to designate its non-toxic qualities. Hence the picture above.
Here are a few facts about polyethylene glycol (the somewhat dangerous one):
Filed under: Vaping Health Evidence Leave a comment
October 21, 2013
I keep reading warnings, many by the uneducated masses of parrots populating the green face of the Earth and some by the supposedly educated, medical professionals of the world, which impress upon those being warned that the liquid used in E-cigarettes is also used in antifreeze, making it extremely toxic to human beings and animals, too, allegedly. The truth, of course, is both more complicated and simpler than the lies and misconceptions surrounding this volatile, semi-political topic based on the rising popularity of electronic cigarettes, purported to be a healthy alternative to real (analog) tobacco products. This antifreeze scare is nothing new. The most vehement of the anti-smoking gang (the ones who think anything cylindrical, brought to the mouth on a regular basis is a gateway drug to Marlboro Reds) immediately leapt upon the jugular of the first E-cigarettes to hit the First World and disected their ingredients until they found something, anything, that could be used to demonize them to the public who, ironically, were looking for a different way to quit smoking. They found that one of the main ingredients in e-liquid was polyethylene glycol, which is used in antifreeze and is fairly toxic to humans in large quantities. The E-cigarette industry answered by changing that ingredient to propylene glycol, a much safer alternative. In fact, although propylene glycol (or PG) is used in antifreeze as well, its only used in RV and Marine antifreeze, colored pink to designate its non-toxic qualities. Hence the picture above.
Here are a few facts about polyethylene glycol (the somewhat dangerous one):
- Polyethylene glycol is, in fact, used in antifreeze because it lowers the freezing temperature of water. It produces ethylene glycol when processed.
- Ethylene Glycol has been known to be lethal in doses as low as 786 mg/kg. Even the electronic cigarettes that DO utilize polyethylene glycol (PEG) come nowhere near this mark.
- Laboratory studies on the inhalation of vaporized/aerosolized PEG all showed that inahlation did not, in fact, deliver lethal, or even harmful, doses of PEG to laboratory animals.
- Antifreeze which uses PEG to lower the freezing point of water is generally dyed a blue/green color (weve all seen it on our driveway at one point or another) to indicate toxicity and danger... (Click here to read the rest of my article.)
