Keepin' It Clean

We’ve spent plenty of time campaigning against the evils of unregulated e-liquids produced in China. There is no guarantee that these liquids are being produced in clean environments, let alone that they’re meeting manufacturing standards established here in The States that e-liquid manufacturers use to ensure the safety of their products. As the knowledge base of e-liquid creation grows here in the United States, we’re finding that we may have another evil to campaign against; homemade e-liquid.

We’re not talking about the liquid that you, the consumer, order online and play with as a hobby. Albeit we don’t suggest it for everyone, we can’t stop you from making your own decisions. We do encourage that you use industry leaders who offer American E-Liquid Manufacturing Safety Association (Or AEMSA) certified products if you plan on making your own e-liquids for personal consumption.

The folks we're talking about believe it is acceptable to take their home-brew product to market without meeting any industry standards.

You may be wondering, “How does the vaping industry, an industry that is still in its infancy, already have so many regulatory standards in place?” That is a great question, and we hope that this blog helps to give you a quick-and-simple explanation of how our industry already has strong regulatory standards as it relates to the chemical compounds that create the e-liquid you consume.

First, because of the common use of propylene-glycol and vegetable glycerin in pharmaceuticals, the FDA has set forth regulatory guidelines for the use of these chemicals for oral consumption. In fact, many of the medicines you consume involve these chemicals as base. As such, the FDA has standards of what these products can and cannot be derived from, and also what level of purity these chemicals must be at to be considered safe for human consumption.

Second, similar to propylene-glycol and vegetable glycerin, food flavorings are also regulated by the FDA. Orally consumed items, such as foods and medicines, are supplemented with food flavoring for many different reasons. Due to their abundance on the market, the FDA seeks to establish standards for consumption of food flavorings as an interest of public health. Not every commonly consumed flavoring on the market is approved or regulated by the FDA, and it is important that our industry use flavorings that are. Using flavorings approved by the FDA ensures the safety of the consumer, and continues to be a cornerstone of self-regulation as related to e-liquid production.

*As a side-note, click here to view the FDA’s information on a commonly used food flavoring, and why they have not approved it. http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/Transparency/Basics/ucm214864.htm

The fourth key component to e-liquid, the one that is not regulated by the FDA in the form that we consume it, is liquid nicotine. As the FDA explains on its website “only e-cigarettes that are marketed for therapeutic purposes are currently regulated by the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER).” (Source Here: http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/PublicHealthFocus/ucm172906.htm) Knowing that government entities are yet to regulate this key component in our consumer e-liquids, the AEMSA has set forth self-regulation related to nicotine liquids, offering multiple facets through which an e-liquid manufacturer may qualify their nicotine liquids as safe. The basics of this self-regulation involve e-liquid manufacturers providing third-party lab verification that their nicotine liquids meet AEMSA purity standards. Another e-liquid standard set forth by the AEMSA is the concentration of nicotine in e-liquids, which the AEMSA caps at 36 mg/ml.

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We set out to scratch the surface of e-liquid manufacturing self-regulation in this blog, and hope that this has helped you develop a basic understanding of what’s going on with the chemical compounds that are e-liquid.

In future blogs we’ll aim to discuss other aspects of e-liquid manufacturing, such as equipment used in manufacturing, clean facility designations, and material handling standards. For a comprehensive understanding of the regulations our industry is setting forth, check out AEMSA regulations here. If you’re too lazy, don’t worry, we’ll have another blog up soon.