PodVapes has always advocated safer and healthier vaping. Understanding the vape or e-cigarette one uses daily is a major step. We have offered guides and articles that go over the best vape devices that we’ve come upon.  

Another key component to safer and healthier vaping that most manufacturers don’t talk about is what we are actually vaping. What is in our juice or e-liquid? What are Nicotine Salts? What are the ingredients? Are they safe?  

These questions are not in the everyday vaping conversation, maybe because the vape manufacturers and 3rd party e-liquid sellers don’t want us to know?  There is a massive market for unverified, knock-off, and unregulated juices. The PodVapes Team would like to have a discussion that is an honest one - not pointing fingers - that educates our community about what they are inhaling and ingesting every day.

WHAT IS NICOTINE SALT E-LIQUID?

Nicotine Salts are e-liquids that have been altered with an additional acid, benzoic acid being the most common. Standard juice, or e-liquid, is alkaline.  Adding acid brings the pH closer to neutral, changing the chemical structure of the nicotine in common e-liquid from a free base to a salt. This gives nicotine salts their distinct smoothness¹ that is less harsh than the freebase counterparts.

The term “freebasing” is often used and is slightly misunderstood.  Companies like to use it as a selling point when marketing e-liquids. In reality the chemical structure in nic salts is much closer to that of normal tobacco. Freebase nicotine derives its chemical format from its extraction process which uses ammonia.  Nic salts addition of acid is a truer and more natural process.  

Freebase Nicotine: The Original E-Liquid

Phillip Morris invented the extraction process using ammonia in the 1930s². The process allowed them to use the entire plant. Only the tobacco plant leaves were used prior to this. The ammonia extraction process also added the unexpected side benefits of colouring the tobacco a darker shade of brown when dried - while adding to its flavour profile as well.

Ammonia extraction also “freebased” the nicotine in tobacco. The ammonia accepted the proton and unbound the nicotine from the salt. This allowed for much more nicotine to travel to the lungs - as freebased nicotine travels much more readily in its gas state.  

Phillip Morris was able to build its tobacco empire based on their free base process. They provided combustible cigarettes that delivered nicotine faster, with more nicotine, and low tar.  

The process used in standard vape e-liquid is much the same. Ammonia extraction is used for all nicotine replacement products, such as e-liquid - and was the standard for vaping juice until recently.

Introducing Nicotine Salts (Nic Salts)

So if freebasing has worked since the 1930s - where do nic salts come into play? Scientific research has shown that nic salts can deliver nicotine almost as effectively as regular cigarettes³. This is at a much more effective rate than freebased e-liquids. The secret is not in the salts itself  but in the nicotine strength the salts provide.

The simple reason why nic salts are only now entering the market is that the technology was not available previously. The same research showed that 50 mg of nicotine strength was needed to deliver nicotine as effectively as tobacco smoking does.  Freebase e-liquid cannot provide that kind of nicotine strength. Most vapers max out on their e-liquids at around 22 mg nicotine strength. The alkaline in freebase juices cause too much of an irritation and burning sensation to the throat if vaped at any higher nicotine levels.

Nic salts’ secret is that the added acid lowers the e-liquids’ pH levels, bringing it closer to neutral - allowing for a manageable, vapable, smoothe hit.

Nic Salts: The New Revolution in Vaping

Until the introduction of nic salts - vaping could not really be a realistic alternative to those looking to quit smoking. The amount of nicotine delivered by freebasing simply did not compare to that of smoking tobacco. Most smokers who tried freebasing either went back to smoking or looked for other alternatives.

Flavoured nic salts are now the gold standard of e-liquids. They have revolutionized vaping making it truly a viable and much safer alternative to smoking. Gone are the days where vapers fruitlessly sucked nonstop on their 22 mg strength e-liquids, looking for the same satisfaction and draw that they were looking for when switching from smoking to vaping.  

An added benefit is that nic salts now can easily be pre packed in small pods of e-liquid. There is no need now for huge tanks that store weaker and less satisfying e-liquid. Vapers can now vape discreetly with more compact, sleeker, and cooler vaping devices. Closed system pod vape devices have been recognized as the safest vapes to use.  This in combination with nic salts have truly revolutionized how and what we vape.

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¹https://www.momoeliquid.com/blogs/news/nicotine-salts-vs-freebase-nicotine#:~:text=Form%2C%20Throat%20Hit%2C%20and%20Absorption,throat%20than%20its%20freebase%20counterpart.

²https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2424107/

³https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/emerging-tobacco-products/e-cigarettes-facts-stats-and-regulations