TSNAs in e-juice

[Grimloki]

I've been doing a little reading on TSNAs. They apparently form in tobacco during its growth, but also after harvest during the curing process, and again if/when the tobacco is heated.

So. It seems they form not from nicotine, but from noricotine (tobacco plants metabolize nicotine into this) when in the presence of nitrites.

So much for the chemistry bit... can you tell me if that means all the e-juice I get will be as TSNA free as the samples I've heard were tested to be so low?

Where does the nicotine in e-juice come from anyway? I know one vendor macerates pipe tobacco in PG, and I worry thats a TSNA containing juice.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

The nicotine comes from tobacco leaf. Some e-liquid has been tested for TSNA content (I believe it's Chinese liquid, extracted from starter kit cartridges) and has been found to contain trace levels of TSNA's. Parts per billion (a few nanograms per gram of e-liquid - a nanogram is a billionth of a gram). This is comparable levels to pharmaceutical NRT products which also contain trace levels of TSNA's, and a great deal lower than snus and several orders of magnitude lower than cigarettes. The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary: Comparison of Carcinogen Levels Shows that Electronic Cigarettes are Much Safer Than Conventional Ones

Whether the low volume "custom" blends made by people soaking tobacco in PG contain significantly more is unknown. It won't be known unless they were tested. The vast majority of e-liquid is not produced in this way (I think I would consider that to be the exception rather than the rule). More commonly tobacco flavours are developed using flavour molecules and may or may not contain natural tobacco extracts (tobacco absolutes etc.).