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Vaping CBD is one of the most effective ways to ingest this valuable compound. As the dangers of vaping grow in the public eye, a need for cleaner, safer vape products is a top priority. One of the biggest problems with vape products is the list of fillers that are added to these products.
Cannabis companies are taking this issue head-on by developing new distillate-based vape products that don't require the use of thinning agents or artificial ingredients. Join us as we take a look at the future of vaping hemp distillate.
As we discussed in our introductory guide to vaping CBD, companies in the cannabis industry that are producing CBD vape products are leaning heavily on the existing practices and technologies. Unfortunately, the starting mindsets of the two groups are much different.
The vaping industry was built on the premise that it is a less-dangerous alternative to smoking. This attracts a group that is more likely to accept the risks of inhaling less than ideal chemicals, as long as the dangers are overall lower than the combustion-based alternative.
As a result, it is common, if not universal to find vape products on the market containing potentially harmful artificial ingredients and thinning agents. These chemicals and fillers include polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG 400), propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerin (VG), and medium-chain triglycerides (MCT oil). While these compounds may be considered safe when swallowed, a growing body of research is showing that heating and inhaling these chemicals carries potential risks.
When heated, these compounds can undergo decomposition that results in the production of a variety of volatile carbonyls. These compounds include formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and acrolein. These specific carbonyl compounds have been shown to carry adverse health effects on humans.
The issue varied depending on the agent that is used. For example, PEG 400 and PG were observed to produce much higher levels of acetaldehyde and formaldehyde than VG and MCT.
These same studies do point to the levels of these byproducts being lower than when compared to byproducts in cigarette smoke. So while vaping may be safer than smoking, it is still more harmful than not vaping altogether.
While ex-smokers turned vapers may be happy to puff away happy to be reducing their overall risk, many CBD users don't share the same mindset. Those seeking CBD products are most often health-focused, seeking the therapeutic benefits of consuming hemp oil. These users are not looking to add additional health risks to their plates.
While not ideal, the thinning agents we discussed above play a key role in the process of vaping. These substances thin out traditionally thick, viscous hemp concentrates ensuring that they flow nicely through a vape cartridge or coils. Too thick and the substance can clog or burn, causing them to not vaporize properly.
Fortunately, advances in cannabis extraction are creating new purification methods that allow for chemical-free CBD vape products. Several companies have developed processes for extracting hemp oils down into a pure form that is able to be vaped without the need for artificial thinning agents.
These products are created by using clean solvent extraction methods, removing waxes through winterization, and further refining through processes like fractional distillation. The resulting distillate is a plant-derived liquid containing the sought after cannabinoids. These distillates are then often combined with cannabis-derived terpenes for flavoring and entourage benefits.
The result is a plant-derived distillate + terpene cartridge that is free of thinning agents like PEG/PG/VG/MCT and any other artificial ingredients. Though the choice to inhale these substances may carry some risks, health-conscious CBD users can rest easy knowing that these forward-thinking cannabis extractors are helping remove the known risks from vape products, creating products that minimize negative health impacts for the end-user.
These distillate cartridges are becoming more and more available as the demand for them increases. You should be able to find them easily when you're out looking for CBD vape options. If you've used these products, let us know in the comments below!