Vaping Myths: Are we exhaling water vapor?

[DC2]

This is the first in what will be a series of threads discussing vaping "myths" to determine what the real facts are...

I do not intend to present my opinions as fact, but rather as the conclusions that I have reached thus far.
I will start each "myth" thread with my opinion, for the sake of starting discussion.

I strongly encourage everyone who believes they can contribute meaningful information to not hesitate to do so.

The main goal of these threads will be to gain a true understanding of what we know and do not know.
A secondary goal, at least of mine, is to hopefully squash some things that I think really are myths.

Having said all that........

 

[DC2]

After spending quite some time trying to understand this question, I do not think water vapor is accurate.
I think that "fog" is the best analogy for what the vapor we exhale should be called.

Fog is simply water that has condensed onto particles suspended in the air.
Usually, in natural situations, fog is created by water condensing onto particles of dust or sea salt.

True water vapor, on the other hand, is supposedly not visible.

In our case, the fog is water that has condensed onto particles of propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin.
At least that is the basic conclusion I am coming to for now.


By the way, feel free to correct anything where I am full of crap please....

 

[CaptJay]

I dont know much water is in PG or VG, Id have opined that we are exhaling PG vapor/water vapor rather than soley water vapor but I don't know. Id never tell anyone it was 'just water' though, as I dont know. I have read from studies that the amounts of nicotine exhaled is negligbile, but Im not sure so about flavor particulates.
Im not sure how helpful this post is lol.

 

[Heatherport]

That is interesting and I like it....fog. Cool. I livein a place with a lot of fog. I LIKE it.

 

[DC2]

I dont know much water is in PG or VG, Id have opined that we are exhaling PG vapor/water vapor rather than soley water vapor but I don't know.

Some of the things I've noticed have led me futher and further towards my conclusions...

I have noticed that I get much more vapor when it is cold outside, or in air conditioning.
This coincides with the idea that "fog" is "condensing" onto the vapor particles that we are exhaling.

Also, PG and VG are both humectants, which means they absorb water from their surroundings.
So they steal it from our body on the way in and the way out, and from the air after it is exhaled.

Finally, when I have a fan turned towards me, and the vapor is blown back into my face, I can feel how (amazingly) cool it is.
This is in spite of the fact that it is heated when it is inhaled, and our bodies should maintain it at 98 degrees until we exhale it.
I'm still trying to figure out exactly where and how this phenomenon fits into the scheme of things.

 

[NCC]

DC2, I seem to recall months ago you took strong issue with me for stating that which you now believe to be true.

Although some juice contains H2O, it's a small part of its volume. But, PG is strongly hygroscopic, and I think VG is too ... so, they should extract water from our bodies as we inhale/exhale eJuice, causing the need for heavy vapors to guard against dehydration. So, it's reasonable to assume our exhaled vapor has a high water content (from our bodies). And, the vaporized PG might provide the nuclei for condensation, as you said. If you can clean air of all dust particles and other condensation nuclei, you can then supersaturate the air with water and still not get cloud (fog) formation. A surface (dust works) is necessary for the condensation to take place.

Something I noticed a while back ...
With a glass of iced drink to your mouth, exhale a lung of vape. The resulting cloud is MUCH more than what you'll observe with just plain clean exhaled air. I'm not entirely sure what that fact means in regard to your discussion though, other than our exhaled vape has a high water content, and coming in contact with the cold from the drink causes it to condense. Water vapor, as you noted, is not a visible gas.

Extremely clean air contains at least 100 dust particles per cubic centimeter. Normally clean air, upwards to 1,000 particles. Big city air can contain 5 or 6 thousand dust particles per cc.
AMS Journals Online - INVESTIGATION OF THE DUST CONTENT OF THE ATMOSPHERE
The presence of PG vapor is not necessary for the 'fog' formation. But, its hygroscopic properties likely contribute to the water content of our exhaled breath.

 

[Taurox]

I think they should make a mod now that plays a fog horn, you could push it when you exhale.

I think your right though, it is more of a fog. Doesn't sound as nice though. I am a Fogger, I am fogging, hey lets go to the fogger's convention, yes my name is Gaylord Fogger.

T

 

[Xanax]

Lol it's not Water vapor it's propylene glycol/vegetable glycerin vapor.

 

[5cardstud]

Beings the process the liquid goes through inside the ecig is called vaporization and the liquid being vaporized consists of propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin, in my case propylene glycol. Also having nicotine and flavoring in it, with the combination of those substances being labeled e-liquid or ejuice I think the correct term would be vaporized eliquid or vaporized ejuice.

 

[Xanax]

I think they should make a mod now that plays a fog horn, you could push it when you exhale.

T

Bahahahaha

 

[SimpleSins]

While it certainly sounds better, I don't know that it's necessarily true, anymore than smoking is just fog. We create the vapor by heating the PG/VG/flavorings. And what we exhale is whatever PG/VG/flavoring didn't get absorbed in respiratory tract. I think nebulizer machines that use ultrasound to move the molecules come closer to truly creating fog than PVs do. Of course, it is a much nicer euphemism, although I don't know that we expel much at all in the way of water vapor.

 

[5cardstud]

I think they should make a mod now that plays a fog horn, you could push it when you exhale.

I think your right though, it is more of a fog. Doesn't sound as nice though. I am a Fogger, I am fogging, hey lets go to the fogger's convention, yes my name is Gaylord Fogger.

T

I love it. You are a riot What will Foghorn Leghorn say?

 

[AttyPops]

water vapor = fog, fog = water vapor. Synonyms.

5cardstud +1

I just call it condensate. I don't specify PG/VG/NIC/flavor/water condensate.

 

[NCC]

water vapor = fog, fog = water vapor. Synonyms.

That is factually incorrect

 

[DC2]

DC2, I seem to recall months ago you took strong issue with me for stating that which you now believe to be true.

Might have been someone else, I don't ever recall thinking that we were exhaling water vapor.
We did .... heads a bit over dripping and driving though.

 

[Kevin Freeheart]

For explanations, I tell them I'm sucking on a little fog machine. Most people know when I use that term that I'm referring to the devices use for special effects at a dance club.

The opening paragraph of "Fog Machine" from Wikipedia says:

"Typically, fog is created by vapourizing proprietary water and glycol-based or glycerine-based fluids or through the atomization of mineral oil. This fluid (often referred to colloquially as fog juice) vapourizes or atomizes inside the fog machine. Upon exiting the fog machine and coming into contact with the moisture in the outside air the vapour condenses, resulting in a thick visible fog."

 

[vincentk18]

I just call it condensate.

That is ALSO factually incorrect.

Condensation is going from a GAS to a LIQUID.

 

[NCC]

Condensation is going from a GAS to a LIQUID.

Yes. But, condensate is the liquid which results from that condensation.

Some confusion arises (I think) from the fact that lots of folks don't realize that when they view fog, they are looking at liquid water, condensed onto dust particles. It isn't gaseous water (vapor), which is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, invisible gas.

 

[NCC]

It does seem to me that exhaled vape is more persistent than the visible breath you see on a cold humid day. Here, I think, the components of eJuice play a role. Thoughts?

 

[DC2]

"Typically, fog is created by vapourizing proprietary water and glycol-based or glycerine-based fluids or through the atomization of mineral oil. This fluid (often referred to colloquially as fog juice) vapourizes or atomizes inside the fog machine. Upon exiting the fog machine and coming into contact with the moisture in the outside air the vapour condenses, resulting in a thick visible fog."

So basically, it sounds like we are exhaling exactly the same thing as what comes out of a fog machine?