Ingredients Inside E-Liquid?

There are a lot of myths and misconceptions surrounding the ingredients of e-liquid, but what’s really inside your e-liquid? Between biased media coverage and generally ill-informed commentary, the ingredients of e-liquid have been spoken about incorrectly a lot. We don’t blame vapers, especially new vapers for being confused about what’s in e-liquid. 

The good news is that the ingredients in e-liquid aren’t a mystery at all and are, in fact, quite simple and straightforward. One of the easiest ways to tell what’s inside your e-liquid is to check the label on the e-liquid bottle. Most reputable e-liquid companies print the ingredients list straight on the packaging where it’s easy to read.  The laws in the EU and the USA are changing to make ingredients being on the label a requirement, but almost all good e-liquid companies have been doing it for years. 

What Are The Ingredients In E-liquid?

It’s easy to see what’s in your e-liquid, but not everyone knows what the different chemical names mean. It can be quite daunting for new vapers looking at ingredients lists. Almost all e-liquids contain four main ingredients. Quite different when you compare it to traditional cigarettes that have over 400 different ingredients!

Below we’ll break down what the different ingredients in e-liquid are and what their particular roles are in the process of creating vapour. 

• Vegetable Glycerin (VG) – The majority of modern e-liquid is made up of vegetable glycerin. Normally 80% of the e-liquid is VG. The VG is responsible for the large clouds of vapour you see some vaporizers producing. The more VG the e-liquid has, the more vapour it’s going to make. Glycerin is a natural product that is made from processed fats. The vegetable glycerin used in e-liquid is made from vegetable oils. While it’s made from vegetable oils, vegetable glycerin is alcohol which is what makes it safe to inhale. 

Vegetable glycerin is non-toxic and colourless. It has very little odour but does have a slightly sweet taste. It’s a thick liquid which means that high VG e-liquids don’t work well in small coils or atomizers. By itself, VG doesn’t carry flavour well which is why it’s normally mixed with propylene glycol. VG can be found in several common items including artificial sweeteners, medicines, and food items. VG by itself has never been linked to any health issues. 

• Propylene Glycol (PG) – The next major component of e-liquid is propylene glycol (PG). Smaller vaporizers and disposable e-cigarettes usually use e-liquids, which are higher in PG than VG. This results in a stronger throat hit and less vapour production. PG is alcohol like VG but is odourless and flavourless. It also gets used in medicines and foods. 

One of the common myths about e-liquid is that it contains antifreeze. That’s because PG is one of the many ingredients in antifreeze. The truth is that PG based antifreeze is less harmful to pets or children, and that’s why it’s used. 

There have been minor health issues linked to PG. It’s generally considered safe, but a small percentage of people have an allergic reaction to PG. If you have tried vaping and had an adverse reaction to e-liquid, it’s most likely due to the PG. Switching to a straight VG e-liquid should help. PG high e-liquids produce less vapour but give a stronger throat hit, which most closely resembles traditional smoking. High PG ratio e-liquids are better suited to people that are trying to quit smoking. 

• E-Liquid Flavors – One of the most popular things about e-liquid and vaping is the number of different flavour choices. There are thousands of different e-liquid flavours for vapers to choose from. Your imagination only limits you. The e-liquid by itself doesn’t have any real flavour so artificial flavours are added. Specially formulated flavourings are used in e-liquids to make them safe to inhale when the e-liquid is turned into a vapour. If you are planning on making your e-liquids, you must use flavourings that are designed for e-liquids and not for foods. 

• Nicotine – The final ingredient added to e-liquids is nicotine. Although not all e-liquids contain nicotine, it’s the nicotine content of e-liquid, which makes it such an effective tool to help smokers quit smoking. When you first quit smoking and start using e-cigarettes, you want to start with an e-liquid that is high in nicotine. Over time you can transition down to lower levels of nicotine and eventually quit altogether. If you are making your e-liquid, it’s important to handle nicotine carefully as it is considered toxic and can be absorbed via the skin. 

It’s important to check the ingredients of any e-liquids you purchase and always buy your e-liquid from reputable companies that stand behind their products. If you purchase cheap e-liquids, you can’t always be certain of the ingredients which they have used during the manufacture of the e-liquid.