Propylene Glycol & Vegetable Glycerine - Are They Safe?

As with any subject, vaping seems to have its share of misconceptions, misinformation and well, plain ol' confusion. To be honest though, this really shouldn't come as any surprise, particularly considering the youth of the industry and the amount of both contradictory press and conflicting scientific studies that have been and no doubt will continue to float around. 

Luckily for you, you have Exhale Electronic Cigarettes and this blog to help cut through all the smoke, err wait a minute, better make that vapour. We want to make sure that you have the information you need.

Today, we're looking at eliquid, or ejuice as it's sometimes called. In particular, we are going to discuss the ingredients PG (Propylene Glycol) and VG (Vegetable Glycerine) that you will see listed on eliquid bottles, and what they should mean to you.

Health and Safety Concerns

Let's begging by helping to lay aside any concerns you may have regarding the safety of inhaling vapour produced by either of these compounds (either individually or as blends). Here are the facts for you.

Propylene Glycol

If you take a few minutes and do a quick search on the TOXNET (http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov) you'll find that Propylene Glycol has had almost 5000 studies performed on it and which which stretch back more than 70 years.

PG has been tested on dogs, and on cats. On rats, bats, monkeys, hares and yes, even on a few hapless humans.

It has been tested as a solid, as a liquid, a gel, a powder and as a vapour. 

PG is one of the most tested chemicals to have ever been used in food, medicines, cosmetics and a whole host of other consumer products and the net results of these thousands of research projects and millions of pounds being spent, is that PG is 'Generally Regarded As Safe'.

Vegetable Glycerine

While Vegetable Glycerine may not have had quite as much money poured into its study, it isn't exactly new on the market either.  Its research history goes back only about 55 years and in that time only 500 or so studies have been performed, but the results have been exactly the same. Every regulatory body on our planet consider VG to be 'Generally Regarded As Safe' for human consumption orally, anally (up the bum), intravenously and yes, readers, as a vapour.

As a writer and a Vaper, I hope this information helps to put some of your fears to rest. In my opinion and that's all it is, just one writer's opinion, but I think often there are too many Nosey Nellies looking for an excuse to interfere in other people's lives. I wonder if they have ever heard the expression "The road to hell is paved with good intentions?"

In a future blog we will attempt to explain the effects that VG and PG have on the lifespan of your electronic cigarette and on your vaping experience overall. It is hoped that this knowledge will be of help to new vapers as well to those who have advanced to the point of buying (or even mixing their own) custom blends of eliquid.

For those looking for more eliquid facts and information right away, why not click on any of the links or pop over onto our Help & Guides pages where we look at making choices about eliquids in greater depth and other vape related stuff.

For even more tips, tricks and the latest happenings in the e-cig world, make sure to like the Exhale Cigarettes fan page on Facebook.