What Is E-Liquid and Is It Safe?

E-Liquids UK answers some of the most important questions regarding e-liquid and their relative safety. We cover topics such as what it is made from, how you can be assured that it doesn’t have bad things in it, and what the law is in the United Kingdom to guarantee that you are buying a quality product.

What is the best juice to vape with?
While almost all vapers tend to start off by using a menthol or tobacco flavour because it resembles what they have been smoking for many years, research shows that they quickly progress onto pastry, fruit, and beverage e-liquids.

In fact, a number of studies have found that using flavours other than tobacco increases the chance of successfully quitting. One, led by world-leading expert Dr Konstantinos Farsalinos, discovered that limiting the availability of flavoured e-liquids could drive current vapers back to smoking and make no difference in the number of teenagers trying an electronic cigarette.

What nicotine strength should I use?
Experts have demonstrated that an essential part of successfully switching from tobacco to vaping is getting the correct amount of nicotine in the e-liquid. Researchers found that in a study of 372 subjects, those who used higher levels of nicotine remained smoke-free for longer.

For new vapers, this means they should buy a mouth-to-lung (MTL) starter kit with 20mg/ml. MTL vaping most closely replicates how you will have smoked a cigarette and the high level of nicotine will stop the urges to return to tobacco.

Direct-to-lung vaping (DTL) involves the user pulling vapour deeply into the lungs in one long inhale. Because the volume of vapour being breathed in increases, vapers use a lower level of nicotine in their juice, typically 3mg/ml or 6mg/ml.

What is E-Liquid made from?
As well as pharmaceutical grade nicotine, e-liquids are made up of varying quantities of propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerine (VG), and flavours. Propylene glycol is a clear, odourless liquid that is good at carrying the flavours and delivers more of a throat hit on the inhale. E-liquids for MTL vapers tend to have more propylene glycol in them.

Vegetable glycerine is a much thicker liquid that has a sweet smell and taste. Vapers who prefer to DTL tend to use juices with more vegetable glycerine in them – but also a small number of people with allergies to propylene glycol also tend to use heavy vegetable glycerine e-liquid.

Is E-Liquid dangerous?
Many people opposed to vaping altogether make claims that it harms the lungs and caused the EVALI outbreak in the USA. This is not true.  Vaping has been happening for over ten years in the United Kingdom and there hasn’t been one reported case of lung disease.

Professor David Nutt’s team conducted the first study looking at the relative risk of vaping and concluded it was “rated to have only 4%” the risk of smoking cigarettes. This figure has been reviewed annually and still holds true.

Public Health England said that fears vaping can give you lung diseases like popcorn lung are a “myth”.

How are E-Liquids Regulated?
There are strict controls over what is allowed to be used, how e-liquid can be packaged, and how much nicotine can be contained. The government is going to use the latest report from Public Health England to inform it as it works towards a smoke-free future. All nicotine-containing liquids have to be tested and registered with the MHRA.