Thread: TEST RESULTS - TheraVape Stepping to the Plate

There has been quite the ruckus made lately over vendor testing, transparency, results, and safety. As promised, we came back to share our results and help with understanding what the results mean.

We had four samples ( Latte 8, Waffle 8, Strawberry 16, Watermelon 16) tested by Enthalpy Analytical in Durham North Carolina, USA, for the following:

Acetaldehyde, Diacetyl, Formaldehyde, Pentanedione, Nicotine, VG, PG, diethylene glycol, water, pH.

We only tested 4 juices on this full test array to help establish baselines for our products, and because already just these four samples cost us $1500USD. We plan to use these results for improving our products, keeping accurate nicotine levels, and adjusting or replacing flavouring agents to minimize exposure to unsafe chemicals.

Summary:

None of the samples had any diethylene glycol detected.

Diacetyl scored 959ug/ml or roughly 959PPM (but this IS in liquid form). The culprit will likely be Flavor West Caramel Candy or their Cafe Coffee. If someone is kind enough to volunteer information on known-safe replacements to these flavours, we will make the substitution immediately. Given the nature of both of these flavours, especially caramel candy, that may prove difficult. On the other hand, in vapour form (where 1ml of eliquid yields approximately 100 puffs), the vapour should only contain about 9.59PPM, which is 250 to 300 times less than the amount found in tobacco smoke (250-351PPM.) NIOSH tentatively recommends a STEL (short term exposure limit) of .025PPM, sustained over 15 minutes in workplaces, but that isn't finalized as of yet. Luckily, we don't inhale our vapes and hold our breath for 15 minutes at a time.

The rest all scored really well with Waffle getting 60.7PPM, and the rest undetectable.

Acetaldehyde levels were (in the above order of flavours): undetectable, 40.1, 36.5 and 1.59 PPM in liquid form, which when vaped is approximately 100x less.

Formaldehyde is relatively higher in the Latte flavour compared to the rest, but in vapour form, all results should be about 1/100th of the liquid values, assuming an average of 100 puffs per ml. NIOSH recommends a STEL of 2PPM. In vapour form, our Latte should only have .17PPM, which is still far below the NIOSH STEL value. The rest scored 3.13, 4.15 and 2.59 PPM in liquid form, which are even less.

Pentanedione levels were all undetectable except for 179PPM for the waffle. In vapour that would be approximately 1.79PPM. NIOSH recommends a STEL of .031PPM exposure over 15 minutes.

Lastly, the nicotine levels were within 5%, with the worst being Watermelon that was off by just under 10%. The Watermelon sample we sent was out by a fair bit more, but that was likely due to the small size of that particular batch, magnifying the margin of error inherent in measuring smaller volumes. As a matter of interest, pharmacies consider plus or minus 15% to be an acceptable level of error in regards to bioequivalence.

None of the results are considered, in our opinion, unsafe - especially when accounting for the approximate 100x air-dilution that happens when vaping the liquid. However, in the interest of minimizing exposure to potentially harmful substances found in the flavouring agents, we are more than willing to accept any assistance in finding substitutes for Candy Caramel and Cafe Coffee flavours. Please feel free to reply or PM us your suggestions. For people who are interested, don't hesitate to give us your email and we can email you the full test results. We corresponded with Enthalpy to clarify about how they present their information (eg. minimum detection levels, dilution factor, etc.) so if you have questions, please either ask us or ask Enthalpy (or another qualified professional) before jumping to conclusions. There has been hostility with recent discussions on this topic and the purpose of us sharing this information isn't to be crucified for being honest and transparent. We hope this is met with quality criticism and assistance. We don't believe there's a valid reason for vapers, enthusiasts, vendors and other interest groups (trade or user-advocacies) to be at each others' throats when the future of the entire industry depends on us co-operating. We have our hands full with the government already as it is.

Thank you for reading and we look forward to your discussion.

-The TheraVape Team.

Firstly, thank you for your transparency and trying to make this a better world for the vaping people within it. I find it interesting that it's the caramel and coffee flavours that are a bit 'off'. I have been doing some research on my own and it always seems to be those types of flavours and yet, I don't understand why. I would love to view the complete results. Feel free to pm me to get my email addy or you can just pm me. Lastly, thank you for doing this. It truly does take someone to stand up and without an opinion, just state the facts.

Thanks for sharing the results of your tests with us

Thanks for having the 'balls' to share your results. I'd love to see a lot more vendors do the same. The results of this request ought to be interesting.