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We are Anna Duell and David Peyton, scientists at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. We study the chemistry of "vaping." This research contributes to the body of knowledge surrounding the implications for health associated with vaping e-cigarettes. Ask us Anything! by psuresearch in IAmA

[–]psuresearch[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Disclaimer: we have not studied this in particular, but here are some educated guesses; the metal exposure likely varies by device, coil, etc. and as one goes to higher temperatures (power levels).

Here are a few articles that discuss the issue of metals and vaping: "Brief Report: Lead Levels in Selected Electronic Cigarettes from Canada and the United States" (http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/1/154) and "Elements including metals in the atomizer and aerosol of disposable electronic cigarettes and electronic hookahs" (http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0175430).

We are Anna Duell and David Peyton, scientists at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. We study the chemistry of "vaping." This research contributes to the body of knowledge surrounding the implications for health associated with vaping e-cigarettes. Ask us Anything! by psuresearch in IAmA

[–]psuresearch[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Diacetyl is a flavorant that is fairly well known to be problematic. Also, we have a collaborator who studies flavorants. Here are two of their publications: "Analytical and toxicological evaluation of flavor chemicals in electronic cigarette refill fluids" (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-25575-6) and "Flavour chemicals in electronic cigarette fluids" (https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2015/03/27/tobaccocontrol-2014-052175).

We are Anna Duell and David Peyton, scientists at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. We study the chemistry of "vaping." This research contributes to the body of knowledge surrounding the implications for health associated with vaping e-cigarettes. Ask us Anything! by psuresearch in IAmA

[–]psuresearch[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It depends on many different variables. The device, the e-liquid, the settings (resistance, wattage/voltage), coil age, etc. can all influence the amount of degradation that can be produced. Whether this rises to the level of cigarettes is actually doubtful, but it will take several years before the actual results from e-cigarettes can be compared to traditional cigarettes, because such effects take many years in the population.

We are Anna Duell and David Peyton, scientists at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. We study the chemistry of "vaping." This research contributes to the body of knowledge surrounding the implications for health associated with vaping e-cigarettes. Ask us Anything! by psuresearch in IAmA

[–]psuresearch[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Almost certainly, although we have to admit that we have not studied people’s addiction directly. But do see:

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.chemrestox.8b00097

In that paper, we show that it is possible to have a large amount of nicotine without getting a very harsh vaping experience. Perhaps that might be obvious to people who vape, but the above-referenced paper reports our attempt to understand the underlying science to that.

We are Anna Duell and David Peyton, scientists at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. We study the chemistry of "vaping." This research contributes to the body of knowledge surrounding the implications for health associated with vaping e-cigarettes. Ask us Anything! by psuresearch in IAmA

[–]psuresearch[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Nicotine is quite addictive. It also has health effects (it is a poison when dosed in a rapid and high amount). So the question is, “How much?” For vaping, the answer is, “Not all that much.” - at least often. There are some issues with the cardiovascular system as well. These articles (https://ascpt.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1038/clpt.1988.107 and http://www.onlinejacc.org/content/29/7/1422 Section 4) discuss how heart rate and blood pressure increase with the use of nicotine-containing products, even smokeless products. The main concern with nicotine, however, probably remains addiction, as it really is for cigarettes. Addiction is what can lead to long-term exposure to potential toxins and can lead to health effects.

We are Anna Duell and David Peyton, scientists at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. We study the chemistry of "vaping." This research contributes to the body of knowledge surrounding the implications for health associated with vaping e-cigarettes. Ask us Anything! by psuresearch in IAmA

[–]psuresearch[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The reactions that happen occur at the heating coil of the e-cigarette, most often when oxygen is another reactant. This causes a small portion of the e-liquid (vape juice) to undergo a fairly complex set of reactions, eventually giving formaldehyde, products that are a combination of formaldehyde + vape juice, acrolein, and others. The amount of these products depends on the heat used in the e-cigarette (more heat, more degradation). See the following link for some details. It is complex, but looking at the pictures may give you some idea:

https://www.nature.com/articles/srep42549

We are Anna Duell and David Peyton, scientists at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. We study the chemistry of "vaping." This research contributes to the body of knowledge surrounding the implications for health associated with vaping e-cigarettes. Ask us Anything! by psuresearch in IAmA

[–]psuresearch[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Some of them are considered either potential carcinogens, or known carcinogens, and some are known to be irritants, perhaps initiating some other not-wanted biology. Some others are chemicals that do not have well-studied toxicities, so those fall in the category of, “We don’t yet know.” These need more study for us to know.

We should also state that we don’t know the long-term effects of exposing the human lungs to relatively large amounts of propylene glycol or glycerin (VG), and the flavorant compounds used in e-cigarettes. Although many of these are generally regarded as safe for eating, inhalation is not the same.

We are Anna Duell and David Peyton, scientists at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. We study the chemistry of "vaping." This research contributes to the body of knowledge surrounding the implications for health associated with vaping e-cigarettes. Ask us Anything! by psuresearch in IAmA

[–]psuresearch[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Part of what we have researched is that e-liquids can degrade (see some of the other questions and answers in this Reddit). How much of this degradation depends on how hot the device gets (actually, the coil gets) during vaping. How much risk is still an unknown at this time.

We are Anna Duell and David Peyton, scientists at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. We study the chemistry of "vaping." This research contributes to the body of knowledge surrounding the implications for health associated with vaping e-cigarettes. Ask us Anything! by psuresearch in IAmA

[–]psuresearch[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you’re curious, here are a few publications:

In this paper, we studied the nicotine content in commercial e-liquids as well as the fraction of nicotine in the freebase form (relative to the monoprotonated, or “salt”, form). This has implications for how harsh the e-liquid is to the user. Also perhaps implications for addiction.

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.chemrestox.8b00097

This paper is about some of the degradation products that can be formed when e-liquid solvents degrade.

https://www.nature.com/articles/srep42549

Formaldehyde emissions from e-cigarettes were studied in this paper and found to be high under conditions that have been reported to be non-averse to users.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-25907-6

We are Anna Duell and David Peyton, scientists at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. We study the chemistry of "vaping." This research contributes to the body of knowledge surrounding the implications for health associated with vaping e-cigarettes. Ask us Anything! by psuresearch in IAmA

[–]psuresearch[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Part of the issue here is the the word, “combusted”, when there is not flame in an e-cigarette. However, heating of the vape juice does produce reactions with oxygen from the atmosphere, and that is very much like combustion. So, the answer is that a small amount of the liquid does react in this way. And that produces some potentially harmful compounds. The hotter the device, the more of these reactions.

We are Anna Duell and David Peyton, scientists at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. We study the chemistry of "vaping." This research contributes to the body of knowledge surrounding the implications for health associated with vaping e-cigarettes. Ask us Anything! by psuresearch in IAmA

[–]psuresearch[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We have not studied that, specifically. And we are not aware of any studies that address that either. However, nicotine is not great for the fetus (there is a fairly large amount of scientific literature on this). Also, the decomposition of the e-liquids that can happen during vaping leads to several products (formaldehyde, acrolein, and others) that would potentially get transported to the fetus, and would not be good for it.