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Monday, 5 May 2014

Our learning curve - vapers growing up

We have been in a state of euphoria about our personal discovery that vaping frees us from smoking tobacco and we can escape both the persecution of a smoker, and the fear we might be harming ourselves.

We are growing up! We find now that vaping will not free us from the persecution we endured, the shame, or the guilt - we are still perceived as smokers. Vaping bans are going viral. The ploys and deceits used by the prohibitionists are used against US. It's hurtful. It's a shock.

And then, as the cold light of non-acceptance dawns, we have a new challenge. Our devices seem not to be as safe as we'd like, and we cringe every time there is a report of another explosion or fire from a battery. We hurry to educate vapers about safety - the newbie vapers  - many of us are, need education. But the "danger" is taken up as a weapon by the righteous, to  clobber us with.

We grow more. Approaching adulthood is not easy. We have to accept some unpleasant truths.

We are perceived as smokers anyway and unfortunately we have alienated many smokers by our holier-than-thou attitude which excludes them.

We ourselves are being excluded.

Our equipment is not idiot proof.

Our vapour might not be quite as innocuous as we want the believe.....

Our equipment might need modification as we learn that sub ohm vaping, top or bottom coils might change how the e liquid is vapourised, that one flavour base might be safer than another, that some flavours might be more harmful than others.

Growing up is hard - but VERY exciting!

Link to The New York Times Article.

And Dr Farsalinos reply -


Quote -
The article is true and expected. We know that thermal degradation can lead to the release of toxic chemicals. And we know that formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and acrolein have been found in vapor. There is nothing new to it. However, this study found that levels may approach those present in tobacco cigarettes.
Herein, I present with more detail the results of this study. Researchers used an EGO Twist battery (variable voltage) and a top-coil clearomizer (with unknown resistance, thus unknown wattage delivery). At 3.2 and 4.0 volts, formaldehyde levels were 13-807 times lower compared to tobacco cigarettes!! At 4.8 volts, formaldehyde levels were increased by up to 200 times, and reached to levels similar to tobacco cigarettes.
The main criticism to this study is that in my opinion it is highly unlikely that a top-coil atomizer like the one used in this study would be used at 4.8 volts. At a resistance of 2.2 Ohms that would represent 10.4 watts of energy delivery to the atomizer. I tried 10 watts with an EVIC battery in a Vivi Nova top-coil atomizer, and many vapers were unable to use it due to the dry puff phenomenon.It is very important to examine new-generation (rebuildable or bottom coil) atomizers, who are more likely to be used at higher voltages. I am certain that, due to better liquid resupply to the resistance and wick, the results will be much more favorable.
Another important point is that, although formaldehyde levels can be similar to tobacco, several other toxic chemicals are completely absent from e-cigarette vapor. For example, acrolein was completely absent although they used liquids with glycerol as the main ingredient. In fact, glycerin-based liquids had much lower formaldehyde levels in vapor compared to PG or PG/VG liquids, suggesting that they are much safer to use. As a general remark, finding few chemicals at similar levels does not mean that the risk is equivalent to tobacco cigarettes.
Concerning the remarks about dripping, we should admit that dripping does not allow the user to see how much liquid is present in the atomizer. The same happens with cartomizers. Thus, clearomizer-type atomizers seem to be the future in e-cigarette use, giving consumers the ability to know when they need to resupply the atomizer with liquid.
End Quote

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