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E-liquid can be made at home using pharmaceutical grade glycerine. In fact, you can vape glycerine on its' own (possibly adding some distilled water to aid in w

E-liquid can be made at home using pharmaceutical grade glycerine. In fact, you can vape glycerine on its' own (possibly adding some distilled water to aid in wicking). It has a vaguely sweet flavour. Commercial e-liquid is made using vegetable glycerin, propylene glycol, or some mixture of the two. In the UK glycerine is available in pharmacists for ~$2 per 200ml. https://www.boots.com/en/Value-Health-Glycerin-B-P-200ml_852418/ https://www.boots.com/en/Value-Health-Glycerin-B-P-200ml_852... The devices themselves can be bought from overseas - AliExpress has many variants, some for <$10. At that stage, the 'safety of e-cigarettes' is equivalent to the safety of inhaling atomized glycerine. Stage smoke. Flavourings - you can look for things which are used in aromatherapy (e.g. menthol crystals), but you'll probably want to study whether any chemical changes can occur under heating. Pre-mixed nicotine is a difficult one. I don't use it so I'm not sure if you can acquire it from trustworthy sources. I would not want to fall into the habit of using e-cigarettes produced by tobacco companies such as the 'vype' disposable (British American Tobacco). They have a history of producing methods to increase the addictive potential of cigarettes, ramping up nicotine levels, to cheating on tests, using ammonia to produce 'freebase' nicotine, etcetera. I wouldn't be surprised if the same bag of tricks comes out in the e-cigarette market.

theophrastus 10y ago
"atomized glycerine" drawn over a hot metal element. It's that heated element that biochemists find worrisome. We regularly use hot metal elements ("catalysts") in the lab to "activate" (typically to generate free radicals) small molecules along a synthetic pathway. If you draw glycerine, or any glycol, over a heated element you will generate products like formaldehyde. Inhaled formaldehyde is a health hazard; often associated with cancer. The flavorings are often aldehydes and ketones and are even more likely to generate free radicals, which are implicated to an even greater degree with triggering cancers. The real social health concern with vaping vs smoking is while we have a hundred years worth of statistical data on smoking - we only are just now guessing at the "well, it's better than smoking" conclusion with vaping.
- Aelinsaar 10y ago
  It's a red hot element too, I've never seen a vaping device with anything like good control over more than some basic resistance parameters. Basically you can vape over a cherry red wire, or a dull red wire. IIRC that's well over 800 degrees, which is past "vaping" in any real sense.
  - ttrmw 10y ago
    This isn't really true - elements are cleaned at red-hot temperatures, sure, but they never reach anything like that temperature when saturated with liquid.
  - Domenic_S 10y ago
    Temperature-control mode has been available for a couple years now. http://vaping360.com/temperature-control-a-vaping-revolution/ http://vaping360.com/temperature-control-a-vaping-revolution...
    - daveguy 10y ago
      But it is not a requirement, which maybe it should be for safety. It is pretty obvious that cooked and inhaled chemicals should be under FDA regulation. What current regulations are proposed? A warning sticker? Restricting vape sellers from calling their products "perfectly safe" until more evidence is available. Sounds perfectly reasonable to me.
      - snuxoll 10y ago
        Marketing and labeling restrictions are something most of the vaping community could support, as well as requirements to list ingredients used in liquids. The burdensome fees to get a product through regulatory approval is another matter entirely and could effectively destroy the harm reduction (not elimination) these products can provide over cigarettes.
        Aelinsaar 10y ago
anexprogrammer 10y ago
Nicotine premix is available from many online vaping sites, so is going to be at least as trustworthy as their e-liquids. I stopped thinking about mixing my own when I discovered Poundland carries branded eliquids. £1 for what seems to have a widely standard price of £3.33 or £4 in the vape shops and sites.

theophrastus 10y ago

"atomized glycerine" drawn over a hot metal element. It's that heated element that biochemists find worrisome. We regularly use hot metal elements ("catalysts") in the lab to "activate" (typically to generate free radicals) small molecules along a synthetic pathway. If you draw glycerine, or any glycol, over a heated element you will generate products like formaldehyde. Inhaled formaldehyde is a health hazard; often associated with cancer. The flavorings are often aldehydes and ketones and are even more likely to generate free radicals, which are implicated to an even greater degree with triggering cancers. The real social health concern with vaping vs smoking is while we have a hundred years worth of statistical data on smoking - we only are just now guessing at the "well, it's better than smoking" conclusion with vaping.

Aelinsaar 10y ago
It's a red hot element too, I've never seen a vaping device with anything like good control over more than some basic resistance parameters. Basically you can vape over a cherry red wire, or a dull red wire. IIRC that's well over 800 degrees, which is past "vaping" in any real sense.
- ttrmw 10y ago
  This isn't really true - elements are cleaned at red-hot temperatures, sure, but they never reach anything like that temperature when saturated with liquid.
- Domenic_S 10y ago
  Temperature-control mode has been available for a couple years now. http://vaping360.com/temperature-control-a-vaping-revolution/ http://vaping360.com/temperature-control-a-vaping-revolution...
  - daveguy 10y ago
    But it is not a requirement, which maybe it should be for safety. It is pretty obvious that cooked and inhaled chemicals should be under FDA regulation. What current regulations are proposed? A warning sticker? Restricting vape sellers from calling their products "perfectly safe" until more evidence is available. Sounds perfectly reasonable to me.
    - snuxoll 10y ago
      Marketing and labeling restrictions are something most of the vaping community could support, as well as requirements to list ingredients used in liquids. The burdensome fees to get a product through regulatory approval is another matter entirely and could effectively destroy the harm reduction (not elimination) these products can provide over cigarettes.
      - Aelinsaar 10y ago

anexprogrammer 10y ago

Nicotine premix is available from many online vaping sites, so is going to be at least as trustworthy as their e-liquids. I stopped thinking about mixing my own when I discovered Poundland carries branded eliquids. £1 for what seems to have a widely standard price of £3.33 or £4 in the vape shops and sites.