What is e-liquid?

E-liquid refers to the liquid that vape devices or electronic cigarettes vaporize. People may also LoneStar Vape call it e-juice or vape juice. The side effects a person experiences when vaping depend partly on the type of e-liquid they use.

The specific components of e-liquids vary among brands and products. The base liquid is generally a blend of water, vegetable glycerine, and propylene glycol. Manufacturers then add different flavorings or additives to this mixture to create a particular flavor.

Many of these ingredients have a Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS)Trusted Source certification — a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designation — for use in food products. However, the vaping process heats and vaporizes these ingredients, and there is little research that suggests food-grade ingredients are safe for vaping.

Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)Trusted Source states that vape aerosol can contain dangerous substances aside from nicotine, including:

diacetyl, which has links to lung disease
heavy metals such as nickel, tin, and lead
other volatile organic compounds

The effects of vaping
Vaping without nicotine prevents nicotine dependence and other side effects that have an association with nicotine.

However, vaping without nicotine can also cause side effects, including those below.

General toxicity
Many of the chemicals in e-liquids may have toxic effects on the body. A 2020 laboratory study examined the effects of 68 e-liquids on hamster cells and human cells. The researchers found that e-liquids had cytotoxic effects and induced DNA damage and chromosome breakage.

A 2018 study investigated the effects of e-liquid on young vape users.

The study compared three groups of adolescents:

those who used e-cigarettes only
those who used e-cigarettes in addition to smoking standard cigarettes
and those who had never used either
Overall, the study showed that vaping was less damaging than cigarette smoking. However, adolescents in the e-cigarettes-only group had significantly higher quantities of toxic chemicals in their urine compared with those in the control group. These chemicals included:

acrylonitrile
acrolein
propylene oxide
acrylamide
crotonaldehyde
Other research supports these findings, showing that heating and vaporizing e-liquid chemicals makes them especially toxic to lung cells. As a result, the researchers “caution against the widely held opinion that e-cigarettes are safe.”

Additionally, some vape manufacturers add vitamin E acetate to vaping liquids containing tetrahydrocannabinol — a cannabinoid commonly known as THC — to thicken or dilute them. According to a 2019 studyTrusted Source, vitamin E acetate is a sticky substance associated with lung injury