Ashley Grace
What Are Vape Juice Flavors, and How Do People Misinterpret Them?
Contents
What Is Vape Juice?
Vape juice is a mixture of propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin, water and food grade flavorings with various levels of nicotine strength. Arguably, one of the most enticing things that users found about vaping is the variety of tasty flavors. Because liquid on its own does not have much of an aroma to speak of, most e-liquids are enriched with flavored additive.
Common Misinformation on Vape Juice
Every since vaping started gaining popularity, users have made bold claims about it being a healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes. And while these claims can be considered as almost accurate, ever since January of this year some public health experts have given their views on the matter. They assessed that while vaping is safer than smoking, it can also increase the risks for teenagers to take up tobacco cigarettes. According to research published recently in Frontiers Physiology, the fact that vaping is safer than smoking does not make it completely un harmful.
Research on Vape Juice Favoring’s
The American Heart Association has conducted research and tested nine of the chemical flavors that are commonly used in vape liquids. They were tested on the short-term effects on the cells that line the inside of the human heart and blood vessels, known as endothelial cells. The nine flavors tested were: menthol (mint) — Vanilla, cinnamon, clove, butter, burnt flavor, strawberry, banana, and eucalyptus.
Results showed that even a short 90-minute exposure to these chemicals could lead to the destruction of these cells when exposed to the strongest potency.
The Limitation of the Experiment
The study mentioned above was, however, conducted to measure the short term effect on these cells. The cell reactions study was conducted in a controlled laboratory setting. So the impact on live human subjects was not measured. Therefore, more scientific research needs to be done to see whether e-cigarettes can be harmful and a cause of cardiac disease.
It’s also worth noting that the American Heart Association also said that the high chemical concentration used during the experiments would be, “unlikely to be achieved” by merely vaping. Low levels of exposure can still, however, pose some degree of risk.
That doesn’t mean that the findings should be disregarded. While some of the best vape juice flavors such as unicorn milk, beetle juice or lemon twist were not specifically tested, it’s worth taking note that every flavor that was tested resulted in various risk levels associated with them. So it wouldn’t be wise to claim that vaping is harmless as some level of risk has already been proven by science.
There is no current research available on the long-term effects of using e-cigarettes so, at the moment, more experiments need to be conducted before conclusive results can be published.
There isn’t enough information at the moment to fully understand the scope of health-related risks posed by flavored e-liquids. More research is needed to fully understand what health risks vaping poses and how best to limit the exposure to harmful chemicals to the consumer.
The Current Situation of Vape Juice Flavor
At the moment, there are over 8,000 vape juice flavors available for purchase.
A lot of the flavor names sound like a tasty dessert menu from your favorite restaurant — Banana Pudding, Caramel Corn Crunch, Rainbow Candy, Glazed Donut, Hawaiian Punch, Strawberry Cheesecake and so on.
Users of e-cigarettes find that the ever-growing list of flavors is what makes the use of these devices so appealing. It’s not only the nicotine that makes their experience enjoyable but also the pleasant taste in their mouth, which is often accompanied by a sweet smell.
While these tasty sounding e-liquids are what make electronic vaping devices more appealing to the public, they are also starting to be seen as a public health concern. More research is needed, but there is a chance they are not as harmless as initially thought of by users.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, the same properties that made the use of e-cigarettes help long term smokers kick their habit — a variety of flavors — has now become the main reason why so many adolescents are attracted to nicotine products.
What Measures Are Taken to Regulate the Use of E-Liquids
Since their arrival to the market and their increase in popularity, vape juice flavors have seen several different types of concerns raised against them. Therefore, measures to regulate their use and increase user safety have started to be put in place.
There have been a lot of discussions between the FDA and advocacy groups such as the American Lung Association and the American Heart Association on how to best tackle the increase in popularity of flavored vape juice. And also on how to best regulate the use and improve consumer safety. Especially minimize their usage by teenagers.
The FDA recently revealed new measures that aim to counteract the use of tobacco by adolescents. The new plan will include stricter monitoring of not only electronic cigarettes but also flavored cigars and menthol cigarettes. The move will limit the sale of flavored vape liquids only to retailers that already sell age-restricted products such as specialist Tobacco Shops and areas within certain stores that can only be accessed by people who are over the age of 18. Limiting where these flavored vape liquid can be bought from will serve as a deterrent, making them less accessible to teenagers.
The FDA is also planning to increase their scrutiny on the online sale of favored vape liquids by asking retailers to conform to several “heightened age verification processes.”
However, it’s worth noting that while the above steps will prove valuable in reducing the use of vaping devices by underage individuals — it does little in addressing the more significant and often unknown health-related dangers that can be associated with e-liquid flavors.
There isn’t enough information at the moment to fully understand the scope of health-related risks posed by flavored e-liquids. More research is needed to fully understand what health risks vaping poses and how best to limit the exposure to harmful chemicals to the consumer.
