"Treated" XC-116: Is it safe?

[cloudcity]

So I've been using fully treated xc-116 for a bit. People have posted some concerns about toxicity, micro particles etc...

So my question is, what's the verdict? Is there any hard data anyone has discovered? Do we know for sure if it is safe, or not?
Etc...

I would love to learn as much as possible regarding safety issues with properly "treated" XC / Nextel...

 

[pdib]

There's no hard facts, cause people haven't been vaping it for decades. I used it for months and months with absolutely no irritation of the mouth nose throat. Here's some specs. I think they mashed some into tiny tiny particles and forced it into the lungs of rats and they did not develop cancer . . . . . so, there's that.

http://www.3m.com/market/industrial/ceramics/pdfs/health_safety.pdf

 

[cloudcity]

There's no hard facts, cause people haven't been vaping it for decades. I used it for months and months with absolutely no irritation of the mouth nose throat. Here's some specs. I think they mashed some into tiny tiny particles and forced it into the lungs of rats and they did not develop cancer . . . . . so, there's that.

http://www.3m.com/market/industrial/ceramics/pdfs/health_safety.pdf

Thanks for posting this!

The first paragraph SEEMS to say enough about what I was hoping to read.
(I.e. - no-one knows for sure until further research is done... but, IMO no wick has yet been proven to be harmless. So far XC does not seem to be any more toxic than any other wicking material... only time will tell, but so far I won't freak myself out over it...)

Thanks for posting this - to me it seems no more toxic than silica or ekowool so far... (but again, only time and research will tell.)

 

[cloudcity]

And on a side note my question arose out of this:
(As someone who LOVES mesh)

After even just a few days of a (very well built) mesh wicking setup, the wick does eventually char. (and man can you taste it once it does! ...)

Over time It slowly burns through the SS wick, to layers below the outer wrap...

So - I'm left asking myself this:

Why the hell is my wick burned-through a layer, black, and charred?

I'm no chemist, but common sense tells me this;

once something has been burned to the point where the heat has worn through an entire "roll" (layer) of mesh, the only conclusion is: - I have been "smoking" (vaping) that "burned-through" wick...

I don't know how comfortable I feel about smoking steel particles, but I would assume they're just as harsh (my gut tells me moreso) than ceramics, Silica, Ekowool or any other wicking material I know of...

Only research and time will tell...

 

[folkphys]

Though I am no chemist either, my assumption is that you are not actually "burning" through layers of mesh but simply getting deeper layers of oxidation and crusty charred juice solids buildup. And it is those crusty solids which get reheated, loosened and then fall back into your juice tank yielding that nasty-ish flavor many of us have encountered. I believe it takes a bit more heat than what our mods and atties can apply (under normal circumstances, of course) to actually melt or disintegrate our SS mesh wicks.

The overheating of juice still in the tank, plus the crusty stank bits, plus the constant struggle with hotspots is what lead me away from SS mesh as a useful wick material.

 

[cloudcity]

Yeah.. regardless of whatever the technical cause it, it is a bummer... mesh has the crispest and cleanest flavor I've been able to find thus far... but after 4 or 5 days it just starts to taste charred and funky and my only option is to rebuild... (which is ok, but I go through mesh faster than silica, xc or any other material...) I did burnt through a layer a few times and when that would happen would notice I was getting a really hardcore TH, but a frighteningly harsh one. It left me wondering if I was somehow getting burning metal mixing in with my vapor...

(I figure, if you can burn of stray hairs from mesh when oxidizing, than I don't see why over time you're not burning the mesh itself... and the idea of breathing in steel smoke seems like a horribly bad idea for health issues.... so far XC (when treated) seems to be a nice balance of the stability and predictability of silica, but with a crisper flavor, and longer life....)

 

[Rule62]

Hmmm....I've been using mesh wicks almost exclusively for nearly 2 years; and I have yet to burn through a mesh wick.

 

[pdib]

This is complete speculation on my part . . . .. . . . the only thing about mesh wicks that I don't like is dry-burning. If there were ever a time when the SS reached temperatures that might create (whatever it's called) chromium VI oxide . . . .. whatever . . . . ., it would be when you're glowing your coil on the stuff. I'm not raising an alarm. I can't imagine that the quantities involved would be significant. But, since y'all are discussing it . . . . . .. When I felt compelled to dry burn, or if I pulsed my oxidation onto my wick with the coil, I would rinse it thoroughly under running water afterwards. At this point, you can "steam" off any moisture and stop hitting the fire button when steam stops rising from the wick. Then refill your tank.

Oh, also, and by the way, did you ever notice the smell when you dryburn or pulse-in an SS mesh wick? . . .. . . . Don't smell it! Were you ever to inhale vapors that might be harmful to you from SS mesh, THAT would be the time right there! Notice what your body tells you when you smell that odor.