For whatever little it's worth, and appologies if you knew this already: Kanthal wire should be generally more 'inert' than stainless at high temperatures. The aluminum in Kanthal forms a tougher and more temperature resistant oxide layer than the nickel in typical stainless steel.

(I actually used Kanthal wire sold for DIY vaping things professionally at one point, in a ~1200C heater in vacuum. It's not inert enough in those conditions, sadly)

The metal content of e-cigarette vapour has been analysed; even for relatively crude first-generation devices, the metal content is well within established safe exposure limits.

Stainless steel coils facilitate temperature-controlled vaporisation, which is a crucial advance in harm reduction. Controlling the temperature of vaporisation significantly reduces the production of aldehydes and aromatic hydrocarbons, which are created by the thermal decomposition of propylene glycol and glycerine; these decomposition products are by far the most dangerous components of e-cigarette vapour.

http://www.ecigarette-research.org/research/index.php/resear... http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.12942/abstrac...

do you know anything about the wire temperature in these things? I looked at both links and didn't see any numbers outside the paywall. Another comment mentions a vapor temperature of <260C, but nothing about the wire temperatures.

Stainless or Kanthal at 500C or something should indeed be quite inert, it's just not that hot.

200C to 260C is the normal temperature range, measured at the coil. Temperature-controlled devices use the coil itself as the temperature sensor by continuously measuring the resistance of the coil. The device calibrates each coil at room temperature when it is first installed. Stainless steel has a sufficiently high temperature coefficient of resistance to measure temperature quite accurately. Kanthal doesn't work with this method, because by design it has a very low temperature coefficient of resistance.

Power-controlled devices rarely exceed 300C in normal use, because there is considerable airflow over the coil combined with evaporative cooling. Excessive temperatures can be reached if the device is inadvertently activated, or if the liquid flow to the coil is inadequate.

As you say, kanthal and stainless steel should be very stable at these temperatures. Pure titanium wire also works with temperature control and completely avoids the issue of chromium, but there is some debate over the potential risks of titanium dioxide nanoparticles.

There's also breakdown products of the glycol and glycerine that include aldehydes such as formaldehyde and acrolein. Not as much as are in cigarettes, but enough to be somewhat concerning on their own.

Acrolein forms above 280 celsius, which is well beyond what the average vaporizer will be set for (from under 200 to around 260).

More than that, you'll know immediately it's happened because it tastes awful.

Same thing with formaldehyde - nobody is ever going to willingly inhale it, since its presence means your vape is going to taste awful.

http://dailycaller.com/2016/03/05/formaldehyde-fears-used-to...

> Nicotine itself isn't the problem with cigarettes, it's just a stimulant and has the usual stimulant effects

Agreed, it's tobacco that is the primary issue.

I've been curious to adopt the e-cig for the stimulant aspect. I likely won't, but will admit to being curious if it would be a productivity boost. I'd bet the e-cig companies could gain a whole new market if they published some quasi-scientific material on the productivity benefits of nicotine.

The problem is any potential productivity benefits are usually shut down at the employer level - I've never seen an employer (specifically office environment) that allows vaping in the workplace. My employer requires people to clock out for a smoke break and go outside anyway, so to get the next hit people have to go break momentum away from their desk for a while - and that'd probably be quite frequently too; from my somewhat brief stint(s) of trying to adopt vaping over combustion, I'd find myself puffing on it far more frequently than I'd go for a smoke (which at work is about 1 every 1-2 hours or so~)

Well for anecdotal evidence we've got two people with (multiple) vapers in our office and they totally use them at their desk. Only annoying bit is the permanent noise of using them. It seems less distracting overall to me than people running around for smoke breaks all the time.

I would personally be very concerned about the unknown secondhand vaping effects of someone doing it in close proximity to me at work.

I've adopted nicotine gum. I've never smoked. It helps me focus. (Or, at least, I have the impression it helps me focus. I havn't actually measured anything.)

Wouldn't the gum be easier and more discreet ?

Out of curiosity, I tried this instead of going back on caffeine. I got the lowest-dose gum, cut a piece into tiny fractions, and still found it too intense. I don't know if was just my metabolism or if smokers have all just built up a big tolerance, but it was definitely not for me.

I've been chewing nicotine gum semi-regularly for a couple of months. I use 2mg pieces, and I found a single piece to be pretty intense at first; I'm a bit more tolerant now.

Did you read the instructions? You're supposed to chew on it for a bit, than 'park' the gum between your gum and teeth, let it sit for a minute or two, rinse, repeat. If you chew continuously you get the whole dose quickly, which can be a bit unpleasant if you don't like the nicotine buzz.

That's pretty common. You develop a tolerance to nicotine pretty quickly.

Gum and/or lozenges are a lot cheaper and easier to use. I haven't found them to be habit forming.

Indeed. What e-cigarettes have done for me, and a few friends who have quit smoking, is help alleviate (my friends, who then later completely quit all e-ciggs), or replace (myself) the habitual addiction of cigarettes. Namely, the act of puffing, exhaling, and the sociability of going outside, etc.

That's a big part of the cigarettes many persons (anecdota) have trouble with quitting outside of the addictive properties: the learned habits.

What stops you from becoming addicted to the e-cig for the same reasons?

Caveat: I've never smoked or vaped, but I have plenty of friends that do both.

I think the idea is that when vaping, you are able adjust the level of nicotine you are consuming without having to adjust how often you engage in the physical act of vaping/smoking. The act is a comfortable ritual, a chance to take a break, step away, relax for a few moments, whatever. It's a habit itself, distinct from the nicotine dependency. Quitting smoking is doubly painful if you are craving both the chemical and the act. Vaping gives you the act without the chemical.

This doesn't even touch the fact that nicotine is not particularly harmful - simply a habit-forming stimulant like caffeine, adderall or modafinil. Vaping delivers the nicotine without the tar, and the tar is what kills. The thing that makes people nervous about vaping is not the nicotine, but the behavior of the (largely unstudied and unregulated) substances in the vapor being inhaled.

Indeed. Stimulants tend to form habits. It's not as noticeable with caffeine, because there is a 15-60 minute lag time for it to take effect. Nicotine (largely due to the delivery method, I assume) takes effect in 10 seconds. So it's easy to start forming associations with the feeling, leading to the psychological dependence.

One other point I have yet to see mentioned here that occurred to me when I made the switch from smoking cigarettes to vaping several years ago is that vaping also changed how I engaged in my smoking ritual.

A cigarette has become a somewhat expensive object. When I light it up I would finish it, or at least try to. If the time I had for my smoke break was short I would puff that thing hard to get it done in the time I had allotted. An e-cig can be used for a few puffs and then dropped back into my pocket with nothing wasted. I could be much lazier about how I smoked and as a consequence I tended to smoke less.

What temperature does the heating coil hit? We put stainless steel through 400-600 degrees in ovens & stovetops all the time.

Nicotine has stimulative and depressant effects, depending on environment/ mood of the user. It's actually one of the more interesting facets of the drug