How The Industry Is Improving Vaporizer Safety

Vaporizer safety is one of the largest challenges when attracting new customers. Throughout the time that vaping has been around, numerous reports have shown that there are safety concerns that may come from using one. No need to worry, many of these issues are from user error and/or using non-regulated black market products. 

We're going to go through what to do in order to create a safer environment in order to obtain the best possible experience.

Vapes "Exploding"

Back in the early days of vaping, there were reports that vaporizers would "randomly" blow up, either in someone's pocket or even while they were using it.

The reason for this was simple:

Let's roll the clock back to 2010-2013. Vaping was becoming the new trend. Combining that with social media and you had an entire network of people showing off tricks and changing how the industry appeared to the masses. Also, back then, vapes were relatively unregulated and primitive. This meant that a simple mishap could create a huge problem. 

When vapes were first hitting the scene, the way they functioned was relatively simple: You had a battery (probably an 18650) that you you place in the mod. What was connected to the battery was more than likely a copper plat that would transfer the energy from the battery into the atomizer. The atomizer would then send the energy to the coil which would then heat up. 

Simple, right? That's the problem.

The issue was that there were no microchips and resistance to stop the vape from continuously hitting. The main reason why someone would have this happen to them is that they would more than likely have their vape in their pocket. Depending on the nature of one's pants, the person could have been sitting on that button for a long time. With no resistance and no automatic safety features, the coil would heat up until a potential explosion would occur. 

If there was nothing in place to stop the vape from overheating then, if it got too hot it would simply reach criticality, and then, well, BOOM. 

Today's Solution:

To counter this, coils now have an ohm rating. The ohm rating gives a finite point to which the mod would stop heating up once it reached that level. This also has to do with installing sensory microchips that will sense when the vape is ready to overheat. 

There are still box mods out on the market that do not have these sensory microchips installed. They are designed for those who take vaping to the next level with mechanical mods or "mech mods". For a beginner or casual vaper, it's safer to go in the direction of having safe, regulated coils. 

2016-2017 "Popcorn Lung"

One of the biggest hits to the vape world wasn't even designed for concentrates. It was designed for regular e-juice. Reports made major headlines that year due to an increasing number of vape-related injuries. The most notable of these injuries was "vape lung".

Why Did This Happen?

Due to the "natural flavoring" of vapes and the nicotine industry as a whole, the regulations put on them allowed for "alternative flavoring methods". These were the key ingredients that caused the issue:

• Acetaldehyde.
• Ammonia.
• Chlorine.
• Diacetyl.
• Formaldehyde.
• Fumes from metal oxides.
• Hydrochloric acid.
• Mustard gas or sulfur mustard.
• Nitrogen oxides.
• Sulfur dioxide.

To say that many e-juice companies took some liberties in what "natural flavoring" was considered, it's safe to say this was quickly resolved. Almost overnight, vape stores had to give up their inventory in order to process what could and could not be sold. Sure, "sulfur dioxide" is a "naturally occurring" mineral, but let's be real. You don't want that in your lungs. 

2018-2020 - Black Market Cartridges

One of the latest issues that stemmed from vaporizers was the "black market" phase. During this time there was a DIY movement within the industry. Everyone was trying to learn how to make concentrate in their homes. Many of them did this to save money, and within the newly emerging industry throughout the country, many were trying to save money due to the access to homegrown initiatives. Soon everyone wanted to try and do things on their own. Of course, there is a trial and error period, but some Youtube videos and other places for information gave, well, bad information. 

Many of these black-market cartridges were sold to friends who would later have respiratory issues. Many of these came from adding Vitamin-E acetate to the compound mix. Vitamin E has the unfortunate ability to remain in the lungs for long periods of time. The more you used cartridges with this in them, the more it would bind to the inner linings of the lungs and bronchial tubes. 

The Solution:

When this started happening, once again, droves of vape store shelves were bare. There was major concern about the validity of vaping. New users stayed away from anything less than a natural approach. Many switched to the traditional dry herb method. 

To be honest, the black market cartridge scare almost regulated itself overnight. While there were tons of cartridges going around containing vitamin e acetate, most people took it upon themselves to trust either highly known brands, or stick with the traditional methods. In states where there was an outright ban on all vaping supplies, this meant people had no real alternative choice other than dry herbs.