What's in vape juice?

One of the biggest concerns vapers have is the safety of their product. Quality vape juice, including that made in the Vapejoose lab, contains only PG, VG, Nicotine and Flavor (although some manufacturers also use distilled water, which is also fine). We wanted to share a bit of information about what each of these substances are, and how they may affect you.

Propylene Glycol

Propylene glycol, more commonly known as PG, is responsible for most of the flavor and throat hit in vapor. Its flavor carrying properties make it a common choice in commercial food flavoring and candy flavors - most Vapejoose flavorings are PG based. The body can completely metabolize PG, which makes it a popular choice for products such as asthma inhalers. It’s commonly found in food products, cosmetics, and various pharmaceuticals. While it’s true that PG is also used as antifreeze, we’d like to point out that antifreeze is industrial grade PG and also that this is the nontoxic option - most antifreeze is ethylene glycol, a very different (and toxic!) substance. Vapejoose PG is USP (US Pharmacopeial) certified, which requires at least 99.5% purity and must pass other rigorous tests. All of our propylene glycol is manufactured in the US.

Vegetable Glycerine

Vegetable glycerine, or VG, is the ingredient most responsible for vapor production. Increasing your VG level will lead to an increase in vapor production, although you will lose some throat hit. VG is also not as good at carrying flavor as PG, so you may experience a loss of flavor potency with higher VG levels (this varies as VG does carry some flavors well). Unlike PG, VG does have a slightly sweet flavor to it which may somewhat affect the flavor of your finished e-liquid product. Our US-sourced VG is naturally derived from plant oils, but due to the refinement necessary to reach USP specifications - 99.7% minimum purity - it is free of food allergens. There are no known risks associated with inhaling VG. Vegetable glycerine is also used in foods, pharmaceuticals, toothpaste, ointments and cosmetic products.

Nicotine

First things first - nicotine is very dangerous. More toxic than arsenic, milligram for milligram. If vaping were just as satisfying without nicotine, we wouldn’t use it at all. Always use caution when using nicotine. If you feel ill after vaping or coming into contact with e-liquid, call poison control or a physician for help. KEEP IT AWAY FROM CHILDREN AT ALL TIMES.

With that out of the way, nicotine is an important part of e-liquid, and we want nothing but the best for Vapejoose. That’s why we recently opted to make the switch to Nude Nicotine, an unparalleled source for premium quality nicotine base. Nude tests their products via GC/MS (gas chromatography/mass spectrometry) to ensure it exceeds USP specs and provides our consumers with the best product possible.

Flavoring

Flavoring is much more difficult to pin down than simple substances such as PG VG and nicotine. Each flavor we offer has a variety of flavor molecules which combine to create the finished product. All Vapejoose flavors are made with food grade ingredients. Although some were specifically designed for vaping, most flavors are made for use in candy and baked goods. While these are completely safe to ingest, using these products for inhalation require more scrutiny.

While lemon oil and the like is great for eating, the lungs have difficulty processing anything that isn’t water soluble. For this reason, Vapejoose does not use any flavorings that contain oils in our products. We also do not use products that tend to solidify or settle. Some solids may be fine, but best to err on the side of caution - if it doesn’t dissolve, we don’t use it.

The big contentious area right now is flavoring agents known as “custard notes”, which include Diacetyl, Acetyl Propionyl, and Acetoin. The community is full of strong opinions one way or another with no solid consensus on their safety in e-liquid. We will follow up soon with a post what custard notes are and how they may affect you, but decided the best course of action is to inform. If a Vapejoose flavor contains custard notes, they are listed in the product description.

Hopefully this article has shed a little light on Vapejoose e-liquids. As always, feel free to call or email us if you have any questions or concerns about our products!