Truth be told… What’s in your vape juice?

There is still much to be discovered about the dangers of vaping. But continued studies are revealing many hidden truths. Imagine if just sitting on the shelves in a storage room can cause your favorite e-liquid to produce some harmful chemicals known as acetals. Goodness knows what happens when they are heated up even more.

The studies, which focus on eight specific flavors of Juul e-liquids, indicate that these chemicals formed from alcohol and aldehydes can be irritating and even damaging to the lungs. While the majority of alcohols and aldehydes are safe for consumption and are often used to flavor food and other products, very little is known about their effects when inhaled.

When the first e-cigarette had hit the market, no one had the faintest idea that its popularity and technological advancements would increase so rapidly. Now regulatory bodies and scientists are playing catch up. However, their efforts to unearth the possible effects of vaping are being dwarfed by the exponential growth of its user demographics. After all, manufacturers are not obligated under the law to divulge all ingredients used in their products.These ingredients added to e-liquids may not be harmful individually. But users should be aware that the combination creates very different effects.

Yale Researchers Hanno Erythropel, Julie Zimmerman and Sven-Eric Jordtmade some interesting observations in their studies: 

• When the flavoring compounds (aldehydes) found in many of your favorite e-liquids and vegetable glycerol or propylene glycol (alcohol) combine, the byproducts can have more significant detrimental effects than their derivatives. 
• Menthol was present in the vast majority of fruit and dessert flavors.

Menthol, widely used due to its numbing effect to soothe irritation and coughing in the lungs and throat, helps to disguise the effects of these acetals. By adding menthol to these e-liquids, manufacturers make it difficult for users to know how they are being affected by the chemicals released through vaping.

While this information might be too late for some, it should cause others to wonder what is really in their e-liquid before it is too late.