What are the ingredients in vape e-juice?

What is e-juice?

E-juice which is also called vape juice is a kind of viscous liquid usually used to fill in the vape device (e-cigarette) to deliver nicotine, but not forget you can also get some e-cigarette without nicotine (Nicotine-free e-juice). The e-juice will be heated by the vape device and generate some vapor just like smoking.

There are more than 7,000 vape juice flavors available to e-cigarette users, according to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. They are a variety of flavors besides mint and tobacco. People are wondering what's inside the e-juice, how they affect our vaping experience, and also if they do harm to our body or not.

Here let's dive into the main ingredients that are contented by e-liquid:

• Vegetable Glycerin（VG）
• Propylene Glycol (PG)
• Flavorings (taste concentrates)
• Nicotine

What is Vegetable Glycerin（VG）?

Vegetable glycerin (VG) or Glycerol, is a clear and thick liquid typically derived from soybeans or palm trees. It can also be made from animal fat although less common. It is a lab-made liquid that the FDA generally views as safe in food, drugs, and cosmetics. However, the health effects of inhaling Glycerol or VG are not known.

People sometimes will mistake it for vegetable oil for its thick and syrupy texture, but they are not the same. Glycerol is water soluble but vegetable oil is not.

The function of Vegetable Glycerin（VG）in vaping？

VG affects the amount of vapor produced due to the viscosity of the liquid. The higher the VG ratio, the thicker the clouds. Vapers who are cloud-chasers will use a high VG ratio in sub-ohm vapes to get large and plumy clouds.

VG is also known for its soft and smoother throat hit.

Due to the thickness of VG, it will make it harder for your vape coil to wick which can cause dry hits. Thus, a high VG ratio will take longer for the cotton in your vape coil to be saturated.

It's also important to mention that VG will make it harder to clean your tank compared to PG because of its goopy consistency.

What is Propylene Glycol (PG)?

Propylene Glycol is a colorless and odorless liquid derived from petroleum with a faintly sweet taste. PG has a syrupy texture but is runnier compared to vegetable glycerin.

Propylene Glycol is often confused with a toxic chemical found in antifreeze called Ethylene Glycol. Due to the high toxicity of ethylene glycol, many manufacturers are now using an alternative called Propylene glycol. PG is a chemical that is used in products for people and pets whereas ethylene glycol requires proper handling.

Propylene glycol is a chemical approved by the FDA for human ingestion, and it is not considered cancerous. As for inhaling PG, the long-term health effects are not yet known.

What's the function of Propylene Glycol (PG) in vaping?

PG is used as a vehicle in e-juices to carry the flavoring. Thus, the higher the PG ratio, you'll get a sharper flavor compared to VG.

An increase in PG is also associated with a stronger throat hit that is similar to inhaling tobacco smoke.

PG is thinner in consistency compared to VG and is much easier to clean off your vape. If you are vaping with a high PG ratio, you may also run into leaking issues depending on the vaping device you are using.

Some people are sensitive to PG, and if you have allergic symptoms such as a sore throat or skin irritation, it may be best to opt for an e-juice with higher VG ratio.

The most common PG and VG ratios for vape juice is VG40: PG60, they have the best manifestation on the low-wats vapes like disposable and pod system.

But it will very a little bit different based on which kind of heating coil is used by the vape devices.

For example, VG 40:PG60 ratio is suitable for vaping with mesh coil, and VG45: PG55 is suitable for flat cotton coil.

Added with more VG will increase the cloud, but meanwhile reduce the fluidity, weaken the taste and the throat hit.

So our final vaping experience is a result of the combination of the four major ingredients consisting of e-juice.

What are flavorings?

Flavorings, also call flavoring concentrates, use a combination of natural and artificial flavoring to replicate the taste of a food or drink. And over a thousand flavors exist including cherry, coconut, berry blast, apple, tobacco et. Those chemicals are believed to be perfectly safe to ingest. As they are very commonly used in all kinds of foods. E-juice manufacturers use ‘food grade' or ‘GRAS' flavoring concentrates approved by FEMA (flavor extracts manufacturers association).

Although the flavoring concentrates are food grade, the effects of inhalation of these concentrates are not fully understood.

What the function of flavorings in vaping?

Flavoring concentrates make up no more than 10% of the total e-juice content.

E-juices do not use oil-based flavorings.

Flavorings part of the diketone family such as diacetyl, acetoin, and acetyl propionyl are ingredients known to be hazardous if inhaled. Diacetyl became a health hazard in the media when workers from a microwave popcorn factory started to contract a rare lung disease called popcorn lung or bronchiolitis obliterans.

The amount of diacetyl found in cigarettes is 10-100 times more than any e-juice found.

Flavorings added into the e-juice allow us to taste different flavors during vaping, but the performance of flavor reproduction is greatly depending on the vape device, not only the quality of the flavoring concentrate.

What is Nicotine?

Nicotine is an alkaloid found in the nightshade family of plants such as tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes, and tobacco.

Nicotine is a highly addictive substance and one of the main reasons why cigarettes are difficult to quit.

Nicotine is considered a stimulant but also works to relax a person as well.

Many people wrongly assume that nicotine is what causes cancer in cigarettes but it's the tar and other additives in cigarettes that have carcinogenic properties when inhaled.  Nicotine is highly addictive, but there are no scientific studies to support that nicotine causes cancer.

What's the function of Nicotine in vaping?

Vaping nicotine can come in different levels such as 0 mg, 10mg, 20mg, and 50 mg.

Not all vape juices contain nicotine as you can order 0 mg nicotine e-juices if you were to quit nicotine but keep the smoking sensation.

The higher the nicotine levels, the harsher the throat hit. Nicotine has a peppery taste and can make the flavor harsher.

There are three kinds of nicotine: freebase nicotine and nicotine salts, and synthetic nicotine.

Freebase nicotine is also referred to as regular nicotine and is the most found in 0 mg, 3 mg, 6 mg, and 12 mg. The taste is so not, and the smell is not so good

Nicotine salts are relatively new and what makes them different from regular nicotine (freebase) is that vapers can vape at higher nicotine strengths without getting the harsh taste as you would with freebase nicotine. It is the closest vaping experience that delivers nicotine as a cigarette would. Presently, it is the most prevailing nicotine in the market.

Nicotine salts also are known as nic salts. Nic salts are commonly found in the 20 - 50 mg nicotine strengths.

Synthetic nicotine, also called tobacco-free nicotine, it is a kind of artificial nicotine that is quite like nicotine salt and brings a very good vaping experience. Its price is a little higher than normal salt nicotine and with a little stronger throat hit.

For the nicotine strength, usually use XX mg/mL or X% to state it, and different countries have set different standards on that, for example, under TPD for the European market, the nicotine strength must be no higher than 20mg/mL and in the USA, no more than 50mg/mL.

Because the nicotine in vape juice is used as quitting smoking, 0 nic vape juice is also available. It can be used as the last step to lowering your nicotine intake for good.

Which kind of vape juice is harmful to our bodies?

Usually, the four main ingredients consisting the vape juice are considered to be food-grade and healthy for our bodies.

But if there are warnings about vape juice ingredients to avoid flying around, it's worth asking, “Does vape juice have harmful chemicals?” The straight and short answer is yes. If you are just trying out vaping, you should be mindful of the kind of vape juices you purchase. It will do no harm if you are also mindful of your supplier. This is because manufacturers have developed the habit of mixing artificial flavors and harmful chemicals with your vape juice.

Some manufacturers also add low-quality, harmful, propylene glycol-dense nicotine. With this caliber of harmful ingredients in vape juices, there's no way its vapor can be healthy to inhale into your lungs. So, what are the 7 harmful ingredients in vapes to avoid? They are:

• Caffeine
• Mint/Menthol
• Cinnamon
• Diketones
• Vanilla
• Fragrance Oils
• Banana and Strawberry Flavors

The Process of Creating Vape Juice?

The process behind the creation of e-liquids is lengthy and requires expertise. Each part requires careful measuring before they combine into a single batch.

Each manufacturer has its proprietary recipe. After measuring out the ingredients, they add the taste concentrates or flavors to a mixture of Propylene Glycol and Vegetable Glycerin (PG and VG).

The nicotine goes in last, and then everything gets mixed.

The parts steep for a few days before being added to the vape pods. Fortunately, the ingredients are listed on every pack of pods you purchase.

The perfumers take most of their time to blend a perfect vape juice formula before it goes to mass production, and the formula is the key advantage for most e-liquid manufacturers.

Top 10 famous e-liquid brands in the market

The are many e-liquid manufacturers and brands all over the world, you may wonder which are the top brands in the market that we can trust to buy assuredly.

Here we'd like to list the top 10 famous e-liquid brands in the world and they gain the highest reputation.

• # Dinner Lady
• # Naked 100
• # Pachamama
• # Vapetisia
• # Juice Head
• # Nasty Juice
• # Vampire Vape 
• # IVG
• #Twelve Monkeys
• # Black Note

About ALD Group

ALD Group Limited, a global leader in vaping industry, is professional in providing one-stop OEM/ODM atomization solutions for vape brands from all over the world since 2009. With over 14 years experience, over 4000 workers and 6 factory sites, our company has gained a great reputation among our cooperated clients and fast-growing market share.

We select our e-liquid partners very carefully, and have a long-term relationship with those top-ranked companies in China like Zinwi, iPure, Hongfu, Yupeng, etc; we choose the safest, most popular, and suitable e-juice to fill into our vape and bring the best vaping experience to the consumers.