I don't think anyone was trolling (at least not intentionally). My concern, and others, is the lack of (at least perceived - maybe it was done but not posted about?) research BEFORE vaping away on something that could be harmful. There are gases that could be given off by a synthetic material that a vaper may not smell/taste but that is still harmful.
I'm all for ingenuity and improvements. However, it needs to be done responsibly and with forethought. There's no reason to feed the people pushing for bans. Which is what could happen if they claim "look, people are just shoving any old thing in there!"
Clear as mud? (This is why I married an Editor, my writting is less than swell most of the time!)
Your concerns are well placed.
I'll do some research on this and post it on this thread as I find it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sponge_(material)
Seems most synthetic sponges are made of a polyester - some types of bath sponges are a "double-blown" polyester that are "artificially worn-in" before use to increase absorbency. The sponge used on top of the envelope moistener is very dense, so I'm suspecting it's not the "double-blown" type.
According to Wikipedia, the most common polyester is polyethylene terephthalate. Here's some more info:
Melting point is 250 degrees celsius.
The coil of the atomizer gets much hotter than this, but the substance itself makes contact with only the bridge, which is much cooler. Since it is saturated with e-juice, this would have an additional cooling effect.
In any case, IF the sponge substance is polyester, it's the same as poly-fill; which is widely-used in mods.
And IF it is polyester, this makes a better choice that polyfill batting, since there are no stray fibers to wander into the coil area and melt/burn.
I'll attempt to contact the manufacturer tomorrow and find out more about any possible additives, and if this stuff is indeed the substance listed above.