Vaping is a fun way to destress after a long hard day and has become quite a popular recreational activity these days. With fewer harmful effects than smoking, vaping e-juices is a great way to relax while also ensuring you get the sensation of smoking.
There are a variety of juices like menthol vape juices available in the market nowadays. Each comes with different flavors and different concentrations of ingredients. Although it generally never crosses our mind, once in a while we do wonder: what is in vape juices that makes them so enjoyable?
In this article, we will discuss the ingredients needed to make vape juice and how they affect your vaping experience.
But before we proceed to find out what is in vape juices, it is important to have a clear understanding of what vape juices are. Keep reading to discover facts that you never knew and get ready to be amazed.
What’s Vape Juice?
Vape juices are a special blend of liquid chemicals that are used in vape pens to inhale after vaporizing it. Also known as e-juices, these have become quite popular throughout the world. These e-juices are heated to create vapor inside the vape pen and are inhaled for recreational as well as medicinal purposes.
The vaporizer heats the e-juices at 200-400 degrees Fahrenheit, which transforms the juice into vapors. They contain several ingredients such as propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine, and a lot more. Let’s dive into some details to find out more about what is in vape juice and how it is made.
What Is Vape Juice Made Of?
If you have ever used a vape pen, there is a high chance that you loved it. But have you ever wondered what is in vape juice that makes it so enjoyable? Vape juice is not just some flavored water (some might believe it to be so) but it is a delicate blend of various ingredients.
Not familiar with its components and want to know what is vape juice made of? Keep scrolling to know more about the ingredients that make up vape juice. We shall also discuss what role each ingredient plays in the e-juices and how it affects your vaping experience.
1. Propylene Glycol (PG)
Propylene Glycol, along with vegetable glycerin, makes up most of the vape juice. It is a colorless and odorless liquid that is derived from petroleum. It has an inherently sweet taste and a thick, viscous, syrupy texture but is thinner than vegetable glycerin.
Propylene glycol has been approved for consumption by the FDA and is considered to have a negligible toxic effect on the human body. However, there has been no valid scientific evidence on the long-term inhalation of PG.
What Is PG Used For?
Propylene glycol is widely used as an additive in food products due to its moisture-retention property. This makes the product thicker and also helps in bonding the other ingredients in the product together.
PG is usually used as a thickening agent in various cosmetic products, shampoos, lotions, toothpaste, and also a deodorant. What else? Propylene glycol is also used as an additive in salad dressings, ice creams, and also commercial food colorings.
How Does PG Affect Your Vaping Experience?
- Propylene glycol acts as a vehicle in vape juices and helps in carrying the flavors. Thus, in a vape juice with a higher PG ratio than VG, you would be able to taste sharper flavors.
- A higher PG percentage in the vape juice will also give you a stronger throat hit. This experience can be compared to the strong throat hit that you get from inhaling tobacco smoke.
- PG has a thinner consistency than vegetable glycerin which makes it easy to clean from your vape. However, if you are using vape juices with a higher amount of PG, there might be a risk of leakage due to its lower viscosity.
- Some people might also be allergic to PG. They are advised to use vape juices with VG.
2. Vegetable Glycerin (VG)
Vegetable Glycerin or glycerol also makes up most of the vape juice. It is a clear, viscous liquid that is derived from soybean and palm trees. It can also be derived from animal fat.
Though vegetable glycerin is often confused with vegetable oil, they are not the same. VG is also approved by the FDA and is classified as “GRAS”. However, there isn’t much evidence of any adverse health effects on long term use of it.
What Is Vegetable Glycerin Used For?
Glycerol is used in the food industry as a sweetening agent because of its slightly sweet aftertaste. It has a humectant property which helps to retain moisture and acts as a thickening agent.
Apart from being used in vape juices, vegetable glycerin is also used in the pharmaceutical industry as well as the cosmetic industry. It increases the solubility of the other ingredients.
How Does VG Affect Your Vaping Experience?
- The vegetable glycerin in vaping juices determines its viscosity. A higher percentage of vegetable glycerin in e-juices means you will get thicker vape clouds.
- If you are a vaper who loves cloud-chasing and other tricks with vape pens, you can use sub-ohm vapes to create large and plumy clouds.
- A higher amount of VG in vape juice will give you a softer and smoother throat hit.
- However, due to the high viscosity of vegetable glycerin, the cotton in the vape coil takes a longer time to get saturated with the vape juice. Thus, there is a high risk of dry hits if you choose to use the vape pen just after refilling the cartridge.
- Also, its thicker consistency makes the vape juice gooey, which makes the vape pen hard to clean.
3. Flavoring Agents
If you have ever wondered what is in vape juice, flavoring concentrations should have been your first guess. The flavoring agents used in vape juices are a combination of natural and artificial flavors that can synthetically replicate the taste of any food or drink.
Vape juices are available in various flavors. Just say the name and it is quite likely that you would find it in a vape or e-cigarette shop. You will find vape juices in diverse fruity flavors such as strawberry, apple, lemon, orange, or cherry. Apart from the basic fruity flavors, you might even find some other quirky flavors if you search for them.
All the flavoring concentrations that are used by vape juice manufactures are approved by the FEMA, or the Flavours Extracts Manufacturers Association. They are also classified as “GRAS” and are safe to be inhaled.
How Do Flavoring Agents Affect Your Vaping Experience?
The flavoring agent makes up about 10% of the constituents of the vape juice. Though PG and VG have a mild sweet taste of their own, the addition of flavoring ingredients gives the vape juices a more robust taste.
Some flavoring ingredients are classified in the di-ketone family such as diacetyl, acetoin, and acetyl propionyl, and can have deleterious effects on your health if inhaled. However, the concentration of diacetyl in vape juices is about 10-100 times less than in cigarettes. Nonetheless, these kinds of vape juices have been taken out of the market because of their adverse effects.
4. Nicotine
Almost all vape juices have some percentage of nicotine in them. Nicotine is an alkaloid that is often found in tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes, and of course, nicotine. Nicotine is a highly addictive compound, and is present in cigarettes. This compound acts as a stimulant and helps a person to relax.
Nicotine is considered to be a reasonably safe drug, but burning it and inhaling the smoke has a number of side effects that adversely affect the body. However, vaping nicotine has fewer harmful effects on health and is one of the safest ways of inhaling nicotine. Nicotine-infused vape juice is also adopted as a method to get rid of cigarette addiction.
Nicotine causes teratogenic activity that can harm unborn babies if used by pregnant women. Vape juices are also available with nicotine. You can use that if you are trying to quit nicotine addiction but want to retain the sensation of smoking.
How Does Nicotine Affect Your Vaping Experience?
- Nicotine is present in various concentrations in vape juices. You can choose from different levels, such as 0 mg, 3 mg, 6 mg, and 12 mg nicotine e-juices.
- The higher the concentration of nicotine, the stronger the throat hit. Also, nicotine has a slight peppery taste that can infuse a harsher flavor in the vape juice.
- Nicotine is of two types: freebase nicotine and nicotine salts. Freebase nicotine is commonly known as regular nicotine and is found in 3 mg, 6 mg, or 12 mg concentrations in the vape juices.
- Nicotine salt is a newer addition to the vaping market and is slightly different from the freebase nicotine e-juices. This allows you to vape higher nicotine strengths without the harsh throat hit that is common in freebase nicotine. Nicotine salts are also called Nic salts that are commonly available in 25mg or 30 mg concentration.
- It is suggested that you keep all vape juice cartridges out of reach of children. Accidental swallowing of nicotine-containing vape juice can be highly poisonous and even fatal.
Are The Chemicals In Vape Juices Safe?
It is very crucial to know whether the things we consume are safe to be used or not. The Food and Drugs Association ensures the safety of all the products that are meant for human ingestion.
The FDA has classified all the chemical components that are used in vape juices as “GRAS” or Generally Recognised As Safe. However, the health effects of smoking or vaporizing have not been deduced completely.
The Final Words
Before we consume any substance, it is always wise to do a little background research and find out about the ingredients that are used. Not everything that is meant for consumption is safe for our health. The same goes for vape juices. This article was written to address the question that may often arise: what is vape juice made of?
The ingredients used in manufacturing vape juices are food grade and are approved by the Food and Drug Association as “GRAS”, which are safe to consume or inhale. These vape juices are available in a plethora of flavors for you to choose from, according to our taste preferences.