Since the introduction of the first vapes, there have been many speculations about their safety. There are many controversies connected with electronic cigarettes, and it almost looks like someone benefits from spreading them. Media claims that vaping leads to a wide range of scary health conditions.
However, they have no studies to back up their ideas. In this post, we will explode a myth about acetoin in vape by telling you the facts about it in true colors. Having read this post, you will be able to tell whether vaping acetoin should give you any concerns.
Get to Know Acetoin
What is acetoin? It’s a chemical compound, the molecular formula for which is C4H8O2. It is a liquid product of fermentation that has a green to yellow color and smells like sweet butter. Molecules of acetoin are commonly found in various bacteria that use them as energy storage units.
Acetoin is also a food additive that is commonly found in a wide variety of products, from baked goods and maple syrup to cigarettes and e-liquids. It can also be naturally found in non-processed fruit and vegetables like apples, black currants, blackberries, cantaloupes, asparagus, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and wheat.
Back in 1994, five major cigarette manufacturing companies presented a report that included the ingredient lists of their products to the US Department of Health and Human Services.
According to this report, acetoin was present among the rest of the 599 cigarette additives. At that time, any food and other product additives raised much concern because there was not enough data on how they affect human health.
Acetoin Safety
Acetoin in e-liquids is found in liquid form, which is considered to be harmless for human health. For this reason, many e-juice manufacturers and users turned to acetoin instead of diacetyl. The latter could potentially harm human health. Diacetyl has a controversial reputation because of the lung disease the microwave popcorn factory workers who inhaled its high concentrations on a daily basis were diagnosed with.
According to the research, the health condition of eight factory workers have been diagnosed with can be directly traced to diacetyl. However, this agent has been used in the food industry as an additive for many years, and all of us consumed it at some point in butterscotch, brown sugar, butter, cheese or microwave popcorn.
Since the reputation of diacetyl became controversial, a large number of companies decided to reduce its use and turned to acetoin and acetyl propionyl. The structure and the features of the latter two resemble the structure and the features of diacetyl.
Since there have been only a few serious studies on the safety of acetoin and acetyl propionyl, some people consider these agents to be potentially dangerous for human health as well.
Is Acetoin Safe to Vape?
When it comes to vaping acetoin, there are two exact antipodes of opinion. There are vapers who claim that acetoin is safe because there is no convincing evidence of its danger. According to another point of view, acetoin is not safe because there is evidence about the danger of diacetyl as a food flavoring.
People who support this point of view argue that since diacetyl and acetoin are similar, they could potentially have the same health risks when vaped. One more argument is that FEMA listed acetoin as a high-priority substance that could constitute a threat to human health.
There are a lot of speculations about the threat of acetoin vaping, but there is not enough research for sure. There is much confusion when it comes to the influence of acetoin on the human body. People who suffered from any health condition when exposed to diacetyl have been exposed to acetoin as well at the same time.
Some studies claim that diacetyl can metabolize into acetoin inside the human body. In any case, every time diacetyl and acetoin have been found in work environments, adverse health effects have been discovered as well. The main thing to remember here is that those people who suffered any health issues, related to inhaling diacetyl and acetoin, have been exposed to high concentrations of the substances for a very long time.
There is no way to get as much exposure to acetoin vape with a vape cig. Another thing to think of is that both diacetyl and acetoin are present in tobacco cigarettes, and the concentration of these substances in regular cigarettes than in e-cigarettes.
Acetoin in E-Liquids
Acetoin is quite often found in e-liquids that have a creamy, buttery taste. Just like the rest of the ingredients of the e-liquid, acetoin is vaporized when used in your vape. During the vaping process, you inhale it into your mouth, and it gets to your lungs.
As for now, there is no scientifically proven evidence that acetoin in vape juice causes any negative effect on human health. There have been studies confirming that diacetyl in cigarettes does not cause popcorn lung disease. What’s more, it’s much higher concentration in regular cigarettes does not cause the disease either.
However, there has been a recent Harvard study that claimed that diacetyl and acetoin could be dangerous for human health. According to the study, there are no proofs now, but there are indications that require further research. We can’t help but agree with this point -a more comprehensive research is needed to set the record straight.
Final Thoughts
The tobacco industry has been there for a long time, and it isn’t going away anytime soon. In spite of the fact that everyone knows how dangerous smoking is, the media turns its attention to electronic cigarettes, trying to discredit them and accuse them of being more dangerous than actual cigarettes.
These accusations are based on speculations instead of facts. We recommend you to opt for e-liquids that do not contain acetoin and diacetyl if you have concerns about these substances. However, in any case, please keep in mind that vaping is much safer compared to smoking regular cigarettes.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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