VAPEAST

Introduction 

Since the discovery that smoking can lead to diseases such as lung cancer, people have become increasingly concerned about the effects of second-hand smoke on the people around smokers. “Second-hand smoke” refers to the smoke that bystanders near someone who is smoking may inadvertently inhale.

Now the world has been hit with a new nicotine trend in the form of vaping. Initially intended to ween nicotine addicts from the carcinogenic effects of cigarette smoke, vapes have taken the world by storm. They have been rapidly increasing in sales over the past ten years, in part due to the introduction of disposable vapes.

Is Secondhand Vapor Harmful as Secondhand Smoke?

The vaping trend has become an object of concern amongst people concerned with vapor’s long-term health effects. This has also resulted in people questioning whether ‘second-hand’ vapor may lead to negative health effects, much like second-hand smoke.

Workplace standards for exposure to inhaled chemicals and metals can be used to help answer the question of second-hand vapor. Scientists have used this information to determine that there are toxic constituents present in second-hand smoke, meaning there is a likelihood that second-hand vaping could be an object of concern.  

What is Second-hand Vapor?

Following on from the same logic as second-hand smoke, second-hand vapor, which is actually a form of an aerosol, is the vapor exhaled into the atmosphere by the user of an e-cigarette. While both regular cigarettes and e-cigarettes typically include nicotine, the vapor from e-cigarettes differs from its cigarette counterpart due to the different types of ‘smoke’ they produce.

Cigarettes produce smoke through combustion. Therefore, any substance which is burnt with fire, such as leaves, wood, buildings, or plant material, produces volatile gasses, carcinogenic solid particles, carbon monoxide, and a mixture of dangerous byproducts. This is especially pertinent in tobacco since the intention of burning tobacco is usually to inhale it directly, hence the larger likelihood of cancer in smokers and those who inhale second-hand smoke.

What is released when you heat an e-liquid?

On the other hand, vapor from a vape is produced through heating an ‘e-liquid’ with a small metal coil housed in an atomizer. The heat turns this e-juice into vapor, which is what is released when the vaper exhales.

This e-juice contains nicotine, ultrafine particles, and various other toxins. The other toxins that are included are cause for concern in regard to second-hand vapor since these toxins include various agents which have been linked to causing cancer.

Who’s Most at Risk?  

Since vaping is such a new phenomenon, there has not been enough time to assess the severity of second-hand vapor or the effects of vaping in general. To rather be safe than sorry, we should consider that vapor is potentially harmful to anyone due to the cancer-causing toxins which are used in e-liquid. Though second-hand vaping currently can’t be proven detrimental to others, we should concern others regardless.

In this spirit, the people most at risk of second-hand vapor are those who may have weak or underdeveloped bodies and lungs. Therefore, take good care when vaping that you are not around any infants and children, pregnant people, or people with lung conditions, as these would be the demographics who are likely to be most susceptible to the dangers of second-hand vapor.

Vape With Caution

In any case, since second-hand vapor or vaping, in general, has not had enough time in the market to be thoroughly studied, you should attempt not to have your vapor interfere with anyone you see. Unfortunately, there’s no clear indicator that a stranger may have an underlying condition that second-hand vapor might exacerbate, so it’s a good idea to vape cautiously to prevent undue harm to others.

If You Vape, Remember These Tips:

It’s a great idea to be aware of who you’re around when you’re vaping because there’s no information to determine whether your second-hand vape is harmful to others. However, you can adopt a few precautionary measures to ensure that you aren’t inadvertently harming someone in the act of vaping.

The first precautionary measure you should take is to vape outside. Vaping indoors, especially with people around, will mean that the vapor is in an enclosed space. This means it will be significantly more likely to be inhaled by people in a building or room since the toxins from your vapor will still purvey the air even if you may not be able to see it anymore.

Avoid Big Crowds and Children/Vulnerable People When Vaping Outside 

If you decide to vape outside, also make sure you are not in a public place where lots of people will be around. Even in the open air, it’s extremely easy for someone to inhale your second-hand vapor by just walking past at the wrong moment.

Another precaution we highly recommend is to avoid vaping around children and other high-risk people. As we’ve outlined earlier, if the toxins from a vape really do have an adverse health effect, children, pregnant people, and those who have lingering conditions will be most susceptible.

Alternative Methods to Minimize Toxins

So always be aware of your surroundings when you are vaping to ensure that there is no one around that could come to harm from your second-hand vapor.

Outside of ensuring you’re not in an enclosed space or around high-risk individuals, there are ways to minimize the level of toxins in your vapor through your choice of vape products. Low or no-nicotine vape products will produce toxins much more minimally and will generally be safer to inhale. If you can, try to stick to these products instead of high nicotine vape juices which are sure to harm someone if inhaled.

You can also buy a vaping device with lower power and temperature. These vapes will produce less vapor because there is less heat applied to the coil. At lower power, your vape will produce a minimal amount of vapor which will have a smaller area in which someone would have to be in to inhale the second-hand vapor.

It’s always a good idea to keep the amount of vapor coming out of your vape to a minimum, as well as to make sure you aren’t in an enclosed space or around high-risk individuals. This way, you can significantly reduce the risk of having someone inhale your second-hand vapor.

Conclusion

While the data is contested as to whether second-hand vapor is categorically harmful to inhale, it’s best to proceed with caution. Current data on vaping is not sufficient to make a sound decision as to whether second-hand vapor is harmful or not since vaping is too new of a phenomenon to draw any conclusions from.

Since scientists have already established that there are toxic cancer-causing agents present in readily available nicotine e-juices, there is a high likelihood that inhaling second-hand vapor could be a harmful practice.

Take The Proper Precautions

This means that anyone who currently vapes should take good care to ensure that no one is inadvertently inhaling second-hand smoke as a result of a vaper using their e-juices near them.

This can be done by ensuring you vape in an open, non-public space and making sure there are no high-risk individuals present, such as children or people with lung conditions who second-hand vapor could harm. You can also opt for low nicotine or no-nicotine juices and use low power and temperature vapes.

Depending where you’re coming from, there might be a variety of different answers to the question, “What are e-cigarettes for?” The original, still prevalent, one might say official, answer is of course: “To help people quit smoking.” Now, perhaps inevitably, comes a device that promises to help people quit vaping.

Just as the earliest e-cigs mimicked the look of traditional cigarettes, the Capnos Zero superficially resembles a vaping device. All it offers to deliver, however, is a shot of flavoured air. Zero smoke (or, indeed, vapour); zero nicotine; zero charge (electrical charge, that is, you’re not going to get the thing for free).

The premise is in fact, as the makers’ own publicity has it, “stupid simple”. It assumes that most vapers – and, they suggest, most smokers – have a behavioural addiction to the act of vaping (or smoking), an “oral fixation” rather than an actual physical addiction to nicotine. Or, as they say: “Sometimes, all we’re really craving is something to inhale or fidget with.”

This is undoubtedly true, to a greater or lesser extent, of a great many people – many of whom may well believe they have a nicotine addiction when really it’s just the habit and the paraphernalia that have them hooked. There’s really no telling how many people this applies to – certainly no way of verifying the assertion that it’s two out of three vapers – but for those it does, puffing on flavoured air may provide a satisfactory alternative.

An anonymous testimonial on the Capnos website claims: “Me & my roommate have been vaping for 3+ years and were shocked how similar the Capnos was to the sensation of hitting a vape.” We’ll have to take your word for it.

Warning bells

That word “roommate” may give away the type and age-group of people this is primarily aimed at – Capnos founder Brendan Wang is himself a youthful-looking student at Michigan State University.

The smaller print below admits: “This product may or may not help you quit vaping. Results vary by user.” Which is fair enough. And really what they are obliged to say.

A few of the claims made do ring a little tinkle of alarm, however.

Much as the makers of many vaping products tell their own stories of trying to quit smoking to explain the roots of their involvement, Wang says: “I struggled with vaping for 5 years…” (Did he struggle with combustible cigarettes first? He doesn’t say.)

The story becomes more contentious when he continues: “My friends started dying from vaping in late 2019, so I knew something had to be done.”

If this is true at all, then his friends – and one wonders how many actual friends he’s talking about – were victims of the highly publicised lung-injury outbreak of that year (EVALI), which we now know had nothing to do with conventional e-cigarettes and everything to do with cannabis vapes laced with vitamin E acetate. Wang must surely know this, which makes his story wilfully disingenuous at best.

The way the cookie crumbles

And then there’s the tricky question of that all-important flavour, the very thing that makes many e-cigs problematic.

Capnos says: “Our flavoring is made from all-natural, food-grade essential oils. (The stuff grandma makes her cookies with.)”

Well, that’s OK then – “food-grade” must be perfectly safe, surely. Hang on, though. Vitamin E acetate is approved as safe too – in food. In fact, it occurs naturally in many common and wholesome foods. But what’s safe to eat isn’t necessarily safe at all to inhale.

This is not to say that the Capnos Zero is unsafe. But to say that the flavourings are safe as food doesn’t tell you they’re “absolutely safe” to draw into your lungs.

We’re not about to proclaim the death of vaping. And no one around here is about to start inhaling grandma’s cookies.

– Aidan Semmens ECigIntelligence staff

Photo: lirno2

• Would you like to know more about recent market decisions affecting e-cigarettes? You can now download for free our full regulatory briefing “Health agency consultants recommend preserving Brazilian e-cigarette ban” using the form at the top of this page.

With approximately 78,000 deaths in the UK every year from smoking-related illnesses, there are considerable risks associated with smoking tobacco products. And with smoking known as the biggest preventable cause of cancer, many smokers are looking for less harmful alternatives to tobacco products.

Declared 95% less harmful than tobacco products by Public Health England (PHE), e-cigarettes have become an increasingly popular option for those looking to switch away from cigarettes. Emerging evidence suggests that vaping and e-cigarettes support some of the highest smoking cessation rates.

What’s more, a recent NICE and PHE guideline aims to tackle the health burden of smoking by highlighting the efficacy of e-cigarettes as a cessation tool and by advocating for the proper distribution of advice on using vape products correctly.

WHAT ARE E-CIGARETTES?

E-cigarettes are devices which heat e-liquids to create a vapour, which allows nicotine to be inhaled. Traditional cigarettes and tobacco products burn tobacco to create smoke. Heated by a battery and passed through coil to create the vapour, e-liquids contain propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerine (VG), food-grade flavourings and nicotine. Because e-cigarettes create a vapour and not a smoke, they do not produce carbon monoxide or tar – two of the most harmful chemicals created when cigarettes are burned.

There are several types of e-cig available from disposable vape pens to pen-style devices, pod mods and box mods, meaning there is something for every preference and experience level.

CAN YOU QUIT SMOKING WITH E-CIGS?

The NHS promotes the use of e-cigarettes to help adult smokers quit – with a trial recently announced which will offer smokers attending A&E departments across the country e-cigs and cessation support. According to a 2019 study by University College London, between 50,000 and 70,000 smokers quit using e-cigarettes each year. Another study from that year shows that where only 9% of those using nicotine replacement therapies such as patches and gum managed to quit smoking completely within a year, over 19% of e-cig users were no longer smoking a year later.

Professor Kevin Fenton, the Director of Health and Wellbeing at PHE notes that “e-cigarettes are not completely risk free but when compared to smoking, evidence shows they carry just a fraction of the harm.” To reinforce this point, Professor Peter Hajek of Queen Mary University added that switching to e-cigs can help smokers “to remove almost all the risks smoking poses to their health.”

HOW DOES AN E-CIG HELP TO QUIT SMOKING?

The benefits of using e-cigs when looking for an alternative to cigarettes are twofold: e-liquids offer an alternative source of nicotine, and e-cigarettes support many of the habitual actions of a smoker.

Overall, the intended benefit of an e-cigarette is that it offers a replacement source of nicotine while targeting the most common habitual elements of smoking. E-cigarettes often contain Nicotine Salts e-liquids, which more closely match the way nicotine from cigarettes enters the bloodstream than freebase nicotine, thereby making the whole transition as effective as possible.

Many e-cigarettes are designed to resemble a cigarette in shape, style and weight to replicate the hand-to-mouth action that many smokers have become accustomed to. Most e-cigs are draw-activated, replicating the sensation of inhaling a cigarette. Even the process of exhaling the visual vapour created by e-cigs can help support a smoker in making the switch.

WHAT ARE THE SIDE EFFECTS OF QUITTING SMOKING WITH AN E-CIG?

The main side effects of quitting smoking are a result of nicotine withdrawal.

The symptoms of nicotine withdrawal can be unpleasant, and include side effects such as: 

• Feeling irritable or jittery
• Experiencing headaches
• Increased sweating
• Feeling sad, anxious or moody
• Feeling tired or lethargic combined with trouble sleeping
• Lack of concentration
• Feeling hungry with intense cravings for cigarettes

Vaping has proven effective in supporting adult smokers to make the switch away from cigarettes because e-liquids offer an alternative nicotine supply. This, in turn, helps to ease the cravings and side effects associated with quitting cigarettes.

*Once an adult smoker has made the switch to e-cigarettes, they can reduce the nicotine strength of their e-liquid to suit their individual needs. Independent high street vape stores are an excellent resource in providing advice to support this journey.  

CONCLUSION: WILL E-CIGS HELP ME QUIT SMOKING?

Research from UK health bodies such as PHE, NHS, NICE and Cancer Research show that e-cigarettes do have a positive impact on relieving the health burden of smoking.

To further clarify the confusion and misconception surrounding e-cigarettes and safety, PHE’s experiment highlights the impact of smoking conventional cigarettes compared to e-cigarettes:

In the investigation, PHE and leading quit smoking experts found that vaping with e-cigarettes as a cessation method is similar to using licensed nicotine products such as nicotine pouches and gum.

For further support and advice on switching to a less harmful alterative, it is always best to consult a medical professional. Support can also be found online from the NHS Smokefree service.

So, you’ve decided to make the switch from smoking to vaping. It’s a good call. But then, to enjoy a smooth transition, choosing the right nicotine strength is essential. After all, if you vape with E-juice of unsuitable strength, you may wind up coughing. Or you may not get the nicotine hit you’re accustomed to while smoking. Hence, you wonder if vaping will work for you.

At that moment, you run the risk of reconsidering your decision and returning to cigarettes. Not to worry, this article is designed to provide information about nicotine strength and help you choose right to enjoy your (first) vaping experience.

What Is Nicotine?

Found mainly in the tobacco plant, nicotine, a chemical substance, is a colorless, odorless liquid like oil in its pure state. It is a brain stimulant facilitating the increase of neurotransmitters which help regulate the body’s mood and behavior. In much smaller doses, nicotine can also be extracted from common foods such as tomatoes and potatoes. And don’t be surprised that labs also create synthetic nicotine used in e-liquids.

Most e-liquids are available on the market in strengths of 0 mg, 3 mg, 6 mg, and 12 mg. You can also see the strength of nicotine written in percentages instead of concentrations. So WHAT DO THE NUMBERS MEAN? Read on!

Regular Nicotine And Nic Salts Nicotine: Any Difference?

Regular nicotine

The regular or traditional nicotine additive, also known as Freebase nicotine, produces a strong throat hit. The nicotine freebase is harsher on the throat. Therefore, it’s better for those who want that sensation or who like to puff frequently throughout the day. In addition, the freebase nicotine contains higher Propylene Glycol (PG) than Vegetable Glycerin (VG), which means less vapor produced.

Nicotine salts

If you prefer a soft feel on your throat when inhaling, you would probably opt for this one. Nicotine salts are normal nicotine with citric acid, having a balanced pH level. Adjusting the nicotine pH relieves the harshness you feel in your throat.

Hence, E-liquids with nicotine salts generally feel much smoother on the throat than freebase nicotine products. And this is particularly favorable for people who are highly dependent on nicotine or who don’t want to puff so many times before they get the hit.

Which nicotine strength is right for me?

The answer to this question depends on fundamental factors such as your smoking habits and vaping device. E-Liquids can be customized to your individual needs to suit casual or social smoking. You can start with 0mg nicotine or add what you desire to tailor it to your liking. And in case you smoke 5-10 cigarettes a day, you may consider something right at the middle level, say between 3mg or 6mg of nicotine.

If you smoke more than a pack a day, you will most likely require about 12mg of nicotine in your bloodstream. Thankfully, many disposable devices today come with 12mg or 20mg nicotine salts in them. So, this is a perfect solution for you if you want to try out varying nicotine strengths as you switch from smoking to vaping.

• Casual/social smoker: 0/3mg
• Light smoker (Less than half a pack): 3mg
• Moderate Smoker (Half a pack): 6mg
• Heavy Smoker (Full pack): 12mg

Do devices matter for nicotine levels in e-liquids?

Yes, the device you choose matters. For instance, high wattage batteries in sub-ohm devices help increase vapor production and allow for more direct lung contact. Thus, you will get a lot of nicotine when using higher-wattage devices rather than mouth-to-lung devices.

How Nicotine Levels And E-Liquids Production Relate

Low Vapor Production

The smoke here is similar to the clouds produced by a cigarette. You can call it discreet clouds, compared to other kinds of production. This category of vape is the most familiar pod system on the market. It features mouth-to-lung (MTL) tanks with really tight airflow. This group also features high-strength nicotine salts. Interestingly, most e-liquid manufacturers no longer make flavors with regular nicotine at strengths over 6 mg/mL.

NOTE:

• Regular nicotine: 12-24 mg/mL
• Nicotine salts: 30-60 mg/mL

Medium Vapor Production

Clouds, but not extremely massive ones. This category of vape includes devices from most e-liquid manufacturers’ product lines. This includes pod systems that make use of sub-ohm coils, airier MTL tanks, and even sub-ohm tanks that have a very restricted draw.

NOTE:

• Regular nicotine: 6-12 mg/mL
• Nicotine salts: 20-30 mg/mL

High Vapor Production

Now, let’s talk about massive clouds. This production features powerful sub-ohm tanks and rebuildable atomizers with large airflow channels. It is usually hard to find nic salts for this category of e-liquids. And that is because these devices put out so much vapor that it’s very easy to get too much nic too quickly.

NOTE:

• Regular nicotine: 1.5-6 mg/mL
• Nicotine salts: 1.5-6 mg/mL

So, when quitting smoking, we advise new vapers to try a low-power vape —either a pod system or an MTL tank. These will emulate the draw of a cigarette, which may help smokers smoothly transition to vaping.

However, many would rather go for a restricted draw that goes directly to the lung. Some even opt for a fully open draw. And in that case, a more powerful pod system or a sub-ohm tank might be the best choice. On another note, you may have to experiment with different vaping kits and devices. There is no hard and fast route to it. No right or wrong one either! Just experiment.

Given the information provided, you may decide to begin your vaping journey on a slightly stronger nicotine strength. Over time, you can then gradually reduce the nic level. Or you can simply start on a slightly lower strength and gradually experiment until you’re satisfied.

Strengths Of Nicotine Available In E-Liquids

Sub Ohm Vaping

This is a direct-to-lung method of vaping. Some vaping kits and liquids are designed especially for this kind of vaping. The throat hit is stronger with this method. Hence, lower nicotine levels are required. These nicotine strengths work perfectly for occasional smokers or those currently vaping at low MTL strengths.

• 0 mg ml or 0% (Nicotine Free)
• 3 mg ml or 0.3% (Low Strength)
• 6 mg ml or 0.6% (Medium)

MTL: Low Strength (Freebase Nicotine) 

This is more favorable if you have been smoking less than 10 cigarettes daily. The throat hit is smoother and more bearable. This is because nicotine inhalation happens more slowly when compared with nicotine salts. These vape kits are a great option for new vapers.

• 6 mg ml or 0.6% (Low – Medium Strength)
• 8 mg ml or 0.8% (Low – Medium Strength)

MTL: Medium to High Strength (Free Base Nicotine)

These nicotine strengths are advisable for you if you smoke between 10 cigarettes and a pack daily. At these strengths, the harshness on the throat is stronger, especially at 18 mg/ml. So it’s not a surprise only those looking for a strong throat hit can bear the sharpness. This is only advised if nic salts e-liquids do not work for you.

• 12 mg ml or 1.2% (Medium-High Strength)
• 18 mg ml or 1.8% (High Strength)

Medium-High (Salt Nicotine/Nic Salt)

If you intend to avoid the harsh throat hit produced by freebase nicotine products, Nicotine salt e-liquids are recommended since nic salts are extracted directly from the natural tobacco leaf. Thus, the nicotine comes with a milder sensation and is taken in more quickly by the user. 

• 10 mg ml Nic Salt (Medium Strength)
• 20 mg ml NS (Nic Salt) – (High Strength)

Converting Percentages To Mg/Ml

Perhaps you have come across nicotine strengths written as mg/mL and those expressed as percentages. What is the difference, and how do you convert from one to the other? It’s pretty simple. Read on.

Nicotine strengths in mg/mL

When nic strength is written as mg/mL, it means that for every milliliter of e-liquid in the bottle, the attached figure is the specified amount of nicotine. E.g., a 12mg/mL e-juice means that every milliliter contains 12 milligrams of nicotine.

Hence, to calculate the total amount of nicotine in a tank, simply multiply the strength in mg/mL by the number of milliliters of tank you have.

Nicotine strengths as percentages

This one is easier to understand. Here, only the amount of nicotine liquid in the bottle is highlighted. Thus, if you have some e-liquid containing 1.2% nicotine, any amount you measure will consistently be 1.2% nicotine and 98.8% PG, VG, and flavorings. This measurement is also known as “nicotine by volume” .

Converting Nicotine Strength between mg/mL and percent

Converting nicotine strength from mg/mL to a percentage is also very easy. All you have to do is divide the amount in mg/mL by 10.

Here is a good example. So, if you have a 6 mg/mL e-juice, the percentage equivalent would be 0.6% nicotine in the e-juice. A 25 mg/mL e-juice is 2.5%. And if you had a high nicotine strength of 72 mg/mL, this would be 7.2%. As simple as that.

And to convert back from percentages to mg/mL, just multiply it by 10. That’s all there is to it!

Conclusion

Basically, if you’re a heavy smoker, you’re going to need an e-liquid with a higher nicotine strength. You don’t necessarily have to give up vaping. So, experiment until you find your ideal nic strength. 

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has taken only the first concrete steps toward ending menthol flavours in combustibles, but already there is ample speculation both on how it might all go horribly wrong, and on how it might be the country’s biggest tobacco control triumph in years. Less commented on has been what it might mean for novel nicotine products, which wouldn’t be entirely covered by the ban.

Certainly, the long-mooted proposal to prohibit menthol – now the subject of a comment period that extends to 5th July (along with a ban on all non-tobacco flavours in cigars, which has excited much less interest) – is the most dramatic step the FDA has taken since the 2009 Tobacco Control Act (TCA) made menthol the one exemption from a general flavour prohibition.

Even the deeming rule that brought vapour and other novel nicotine products into the agency’s remit, enormously impactful as it has been for this sector, pales in significance alongside the potential removal from the market of menthol combustibles, which account for around a third of US cigarette sales. Indeed, given that the TCA prohibits the FDA from banning cigarettes entirely, eliminating menthol would probably leave mandatory lowering of nicotine levels as the last big unused weapon in the FDA’s arsenal.

Of course, a menthol ban hasn’t actually happened yet, and given the stakes it is very unlikely to be unchallenged by the tobacco industry. The issue is further complicated by the association of menthol with black communities; though nobody is entirely clear exactly how it started, menthol has been disproportionately marketed to black consumers for many years, and black consumers disproportionately use it.

Racial politics

A ban can be seen as aiding black communities (by removing a significant health threat) or as penalising them (by removing a product they consume especially heavily); either way, particularly in the current climate, there is ample scope for the FDA’s proposal to become mired in racial politics. Indeed, the FDA is so aware of this that it goes to great pains in its announcement to stress that it will be targeting only the supply chain and retail – not individual smokers – and to dissociate itself from any more aggressive action that state or local governments might take.

Leaving that issue aside, there is plenty of precedent for banning menthol (the EU and Canada have done so, for example) and plenty of support from public health: for example, a modelling study by David Levy of Georgetown University and colleagues recently published in the BMJ journal Tobacco Control is unequivocal in forecasting significant reductions in mortality.

A little lost in the big picture, however, are the implications of the FDA’s menthol plan for novel nicotine products such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco, not all of which would be included in the ban, at least as it stands.

So far, in its glacially slow determination of premarket tobacco product applications (PMTA) for e-cigarettes, the FDA has only granted marketing authorisations to tobacco flavours.

It seems clear by now that the more outré flavours, the mythical Unicorn Candyfloss and suchlike, will not survive the process: but the fate of menthol e-cigs remains open to question, and the FDA’s decision to finally act on menthol combustibles could be read either way.

The FDA’s Iqos dilemma

On the one hand, the purported disadvantages of menthol in combustibles – that it makes smoking a smoother experience and heightens the effects of nicotine, in both ways encouraging uptake of the habit – should apply equally to novel nicotine products, and lead to the rejection of PMTAs for menthol flavours.

On the other hand, and perhaps awkwardly for the FDA, not very long ago it gave the thumbs-up to two menthol versions of the Iqos Heatstick consumables from Philip Morris International (PMI) – not only allowing them to be sold, but granting them the vanishingly rare right to be marketed as modified risk products. This, of course, at a time when the FDA was clearly aware of its own objections to menthol combustibles.

Perhaps it was an oversight, perhaps it was simply a case of different parts of a large organisation not operating in lockstep. But perhaps when the Iqos modified-risk orders were granted, the combustible menthol ban was already anticipated, and the FDA was implicitly helping Iqos position itself as an off-ramp for millions of soon-to-be-forlorn menthol smokers?

In which case, could PMTA success for menthol e-cigarettes be next? And if not, what would that say about the FDA’s view on the relative risks of e-cigs and heated tobacco?

– Barnaby Page ECigIntelligence staff

Photo: Joe Haupt

Making your own e-liquids at home is the natural next step for experienced vapers who like their juices just so. 

There are many benefits to making DIY vape juice, from making great flavour combinations to saving money. But one of the best aspects of making your own e-liquids is the ability to experiment with vaping styles and e-liquid formulations, all the while enjoying the experience.

WHAT DO I NEED TO MAKE MY OWN VAPE JUICE?

Let’s start at the very beginning.

There are four components involved in e-liquids: food-grade flavourings, PG, VG and nicotine.

If you’re ready to make your own e-liquid flavours, concentrates are a great place to start. Dinner Lady’s flavour concentrates provide two of these four elements – food-grade flavourings and PG, making the process as easy as straight forward as possible. You can find out more about flavour concentrates here.

When you’ve picked your favourite concentrate flavour, all that’s left to source is VG and, if required, nicotine.

It is also handy to have e-liquid and storage bottles, pipettes, labels and gloves to hand to simplify the mixing process and reduce the amount of mess. When measuring by weight, it is also important to have a scale that has a 0.01g precision.

MIX YOUR OWN E-LIQUID SUPPLIES

There are two methods to mixing your own e-liquids – by volume and by weight.

By volume

Mixing by volume is the most common method of making a DIY e-liquid since this is how traditional e-liquids are measured.

When mixing by weight, the first place to start is with the PG and VG. Though the amount of PG and VG used in your DIY mixture is largely dependent on your personal preference, it is good to start with an even measure of each until you find your ideal ratio.

For a great first vape whilst you are finding your feet in the world of DIY vaping, mix Dinner Lady Concentrates as a 20-25% mix ratio with VG. For example, you should mix 75ml VG with 25ml of your chosen flavour.

You now have a 100ml bottle of DIY e-liquid that you’ve made yourself! You can now start getting creative by mixing different flavours and adding different ratios to alter the formulation to suit your preferences. You even have the option of adding a nicotine to complete your DIY vape juice flavour.

 By weight

There is a slightly different approach involved when mixing by weight. Each component should be measured with a scale to determine its weight. This can be particularly difficult as 1ml of VG is heavier than 1ml of PG. Vapers mixing by weight should invest in scales that have a precision of 0.01g.

The mixing process is then simple – weigh out the correct measurements of each ingredient and adjust with nicotine as required.

ALL SET: MIXING VAPE JUICE FLAVOURS

Flavour concentrates make DIY vaping simple without taking away from the fun of making your own e-liquids.

Now you know all there is to know about DIY e-juices, why not experiment by mixing different vape juice flavours? With so many different flavour concentrates to choose from, vapers have an excellent base point for making flavourful vape juices that cannot be bought in vape stores.

by Alan Johnson

on

Jul 21, 2022

Vaping is the term used for the use of an electronic cigarette or vape pen. Vaping is a popular alternative to smoking, and many people believe it to be safer than smoking tobacco cigarettes. There are many different types of electronic cigarettes, but they all work by heating a liquid that contains nicotine, flavorings, and other chemicals to create a vapor that can be inhaled.

What are the Side Effects of Smoking Cigarettes?

Smoking cigarettes can cause a number of serious health problems, including: