The "antifreeze" chemical, diethylene glycol (DEG), was found in one Smoking Everywhere cartridge. The quantity was 1%. It would take vaping thousands of cartridges in a single day to reach the Minimal Risk Level (dose required to make you sick). Meanwhile, if there was nicotine in them-thar cartridges, you never would have made it that far.
The MRL for DEG is 0.8 ml. per kilogram of body weight.
The MRL for nicotine is only 0.01 ml. per kilogram of body weight.
Here's a comparison, using 66 kg (around 150 pounds) as the body weight and 2.4% (usually labeled 24 mg) as the nicotine strength.
First we calculate how many ml. of liquid are required to get up to one entire ml. of the potentially toxic substance by dividing the percentage of that substance into 1. Then we multiply by the # ml required per kg for MRL, and finally multiply by the weight in KG.
DEG
1 / .01 = 100 * 0.8 = 80 * 66 = 5280 ml.
Nicotine
1 / .024 = 41.66 * 0.01 = 0.4166 * 66 = 27.49 ml.
If your cartridge holds an entire ml. of liquid, the above results show how many carts you'd need to go through to hit those MRLs. Double the quantities if your cartridges only hold 1/2 ml (as do most of the Smoking Everywhere brand and the NJOY NPRO cartridges).
No other lab has ever reported finding DEG in the liquid or the vapor. So the FDA results have not been replicated in that regard.
Now, about the so-called carcinogens. The FDA failed to report
how much of the "carcinogens" (Tobacco-specific Nitrosamines or TSNAs for short) it found in the NJOY cartridges.
We know from Health New Zealand's testing that a 16 mg. (nicotine content) Ruyan cartridge contains 8 nanograms/gram of TSNAs. The lab that tested the NJOY cartriges in response to the FDA test reports came up with pretty much the same amount in the "high" cartridge--around 8 ng.
To put that into perspective, you need to know that a Nicoderm patch also contains 8 ng. of TSNAs, and one piece of 4 mg. Nicorette gum contains 2 ng. So if the FDA isn't putting a cancer warning on the patch or the gum, we can be pretty sure that the quantity of TSNAs in those products is well below the amount required to generate cancer.
If you know you are going to run into him again, before you go out the door, print this lab report and hand it to him when you see him.
http://www.casaa.org/files/Study_TSNAs_in_NJOY_Vapor.pdf
Here's another kicker. We don't drink the juice. We vaporize it. The lab that tested the NJOY vapor found that only one of the TSNAs makes it into the vapor and that this particular TSNA doesn't actually cause cancer!
Research has shown that the TSNAs in the nicotine gum
do make it into the user's body. Don't know about the patch.
Oh, and those Marlboros your buddy still smokes? 11,180 ng. of TSNAs.
His smokes deliver a boatload of chemicals that are not found in vapor. These include tar, carbon monoxide, heavy metals, particles of ash and around 4,000 new compounds that are created when the tobacco is burned. Most of these are toxins and many are carcinogens. This difference in ingredients probably explains why 90% of e-cigarette users are experiencing improvements in their health.
Is your friend's health getting any better from the smoke he inhales?
