MSDS on flavours

A couple of weeks ago, I accidentally smeared my eye with some flavouring concentrate I'd just bought. My eye dripped tears for several hours, and was very sore. At one point, I thought I'd need to get medical attention. I had used water to flush out my eye frequently, but it didn't seem to be helping. I wrote to the canadan vendor and the overseas manufacturer of the flavour to ask what was in the flavouring, as if I did end up going to get medical help, I thought it would be useful to have a list of chemicals which were in the flavouring. Both the vendor and the manufacturer could not or would not help me with an ingredient list. The only information I got was that the flavour contained PG, VG, artificial flavour and natural flavour. It's the artificial and natural flavour aspect that I'm concerned about. I wonder if any manufacturers have created MSDS's for the flavourings? Since many flavours are artificial, and since even many natural flavours have the potential to be harmful, I think we need more information on the safety of them.

I believe with all my heart that vaping is much safer than smoking, but I still would like to know what I'm inhaling, and what pre.comtions and treatment is required if I have an accident like rubbing the stuff in my eye. Since the flavourings often come with warnings and in child-proof bottles, it strikes me that their safety is relative. It's not enough to say 'well it's safer than smoking'. I want more information.

 

Makes u wonder if they even know wats in it. When its a possible medical reason u think they would tell u wats in it

 

Hi,

I've just gotten onto the vaping train and saw this. I have a particular interest as a I work at a chemical trading company which also happens to manufacture flavours.

You will find that the larger flavour houses (IFF, Sensient etc) will not have on the MSDS the ingredients, whether they are synthetic and NI as they would be disclosing their intellectual property, which would mean other competitors will be able to match and possibly take their business away...

Unfortunately I believe that vaping has its own risks, especially with the flavours. You will find that most of them are not to be inhaled.. I am lucky that I get to see the Bill of Material (the actual products used in a particular flavour) before I grab a "sample" from the lab. I am still quite hesitant also, but at the end of the day I am choosing between the lesser of two evils...

What you will find in an MSDS is something similar to the below for a flavour: (our MSDS' are normally 5-10 pages long!)

CHOCOLATE FLAVOUR CONCENTRATE

2. HAZARDS IDENTIFICATION
Based on available information, not classified as hazardous according to criteria of Safe Work canada; NONHAZARDOUS
SUBSTANCE.
Not classified as Dangerous Goods by the criteria of the canadan Dangerous Goods Code (ADG Code) for transport by
Road and Rail; NON-DANGEROUS GOODS.
Poisons Schedule: None allocated.

3. COMPOSITION/INFORMATION ON INGREDIENTS

Product Description: contains propylene glycol.

Components CAS Number Proportion Risk Phrases
Flavour ingredients at non-hazardous concentrations - 100% -

4. FIRST AID MEASURES
Inhalation:
Remove victim from area of exposure - avoid becoming a casualty. Remove contaminated clothing and loosen remaining
clothing. Allow patient to assume most comfortable position and keep warm. Keep at rest until fully recovered. Seek
medical advice if effects persist.
Skin Contact:
If skin or hair contact occurs, remove contaminated clothing and flush skin and hair with running water. If irritation occurs
seek medical advice.
Eye Contact:
If in eyes, wash out immediately with water. In all cases of eye contamination it is a sensible pre.comtion to seek medical
advice.
Ingestion:
Rinse mouth with water. If swallowed, do NOT induce vomiting. Give a glass of water. Seek medical advice.

8. EXPOSURE CONTROLS/PERSONAL PROTECTION
Occupational Exposure Limits: No value assigned for this specific material by the National Occupational Health and
Safety Commission. However, Exposure Standard(s) for constituent(s):
Propane-1,2-diol (propylene glycol) (total: vapour & particulates): 8hr TWA = 474 mg/m3 (150 ppm); (particulates only):
8hr TWA = 10 mg/m3

As published by the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission.
TWA - The time-weighted average airborne concentration over an eight-hour working day, for a five-day working week
over an entire working life.
These Exposure Standards are guides to be used in the control of occupational health hazards. All atmospheric
contamination should be kept to as low a level as is workable. These exposure standards should not be used as fine
dividing lines between safe and dangerous concentrations of chemicals. They are not a measure of relative toxicity.

Engineering controls:
Ensure ventilation is adequate to maintain air concentrations below Exposure Standards. If inhalation risk exists: Use with
local ex.comst ventilation or while wearing organic vapour/particulate respirator. Keep containers closed when not in use.

11. TOXICOLOGICAL INFORMATION
No adverse health effects expected if the product is handled in accordance with this Safety Data Sheet and the product
label. Symptoms or effects that may arise if the product is mishandled and overexposure occurs are:
Ingestion: No adverse effects expected, however, large amounts may .comse .comsea and
vomiting.
Eye contact: May be an eye irritant.
Skin contact: Contact with skin may result in irritation. Will have a degreasing action on the skin.
Repeated or prolonged skin contact may lead to irritant contact dermatitis.
Inhalation: Breathing in vapour, mists or aerosols may produce respiratory irritation.
Long Term Effects:
No information available for the product.
Toxicological Data: No LD50 data available for the product. However, for Propylene glycol (1):
Oral LD50 (rat): 20,000 mg/kg
Dermal LD50 (rabbit): 20,800 mg/kg
SKIN: Mild irritant (human).
EYES: Mild irritant (rabbit).


----

So even if the formulation is at non hazardous levels, they still have a note in the toxicology area regarding inhalation. What do you do ?

 

Didz, she's busy mixing my next batch of respiratory disasters and will make comment I'm sure.

 

Like anything toxicology is of course fully dose related ... but I am pretty sure you will not be finding any flavour manufacturer recommending a "Safe" Inhalant Range , when it is far easier to protect your arse fully and declare it as a non-inhalent ( as that's not its intended use)

Dihydrogen monoxide is not intended to be an inhalent either , but the body deals with it , as long as the dosage is within parameters that do not affect the lungs operation

Like all unknowns , limiting exposure is about the best you can do ... I think city dwellers inhaling particulants and VOC's might have more to worry about ?

 

Thanks for your input DIDZ
Much appreciated

 

Thankyou very much, DIDZ. Welcome to AVF too! It's exciting just knowing there's a company in Sydney making flavourings. Any chance they might be interested in producing vapable flavourings, unless they already are of course! I hope you'll come to the Vape Meet in March.. would love the opportunity to have a chat with you.

 

i just added a scoop of staminade to a half litre of dihydrogen monoxide and sculled it .. jurys still out, there maybe long time effects like increased urination but I think its survivable.

 

Well at least we have my hero Dr Konstantinos Farsalinos (CARDIOLOGIST) working with Flavour art re safety of flavourings now

Cooperation with Dr. Farsalinos | ClearStream by FlavourArt

Cooperation with Dr. Farsalinos

We are pleased to announce that we have undertaken a cooperation with Dr. Konstantinos Farsalinos, Cardiologist at the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center in Athens.

Dr. Farsalinos is well known for his studies on the effects of the electronic cigarette on the heart, through this new cooperation, new clinical study protocols have been designed, that will start very soon .

Here is the declaration by Dr. Konstantinos:

“I am pleased to announce the beginning of cooperation with FlavourArt Srl in the field of medical research on electronic cigarettes. The cooperation mainly involves funding of independent clinical research performed by our research group. Our goal is to provide to the public and to the scientific community more clinical data on the safety of electronic cigarettes. All our efforts will be concentrated on performing research in a way that will address all questions that are currently unanswered concerning the effects of electronic cigarettes on the human organism.”

 

Good post Mrs G - this is the one thing that pisses me off about vaping - vendors here, China, US whatever have this BS line about contents being oooooooo secret, '.comse their potions are so miraculously perfect.

Well I’m sorry, but I don’t buy it - Lea & Perrins manage to list contents without giving away their centuries old ‘secret recipe’, and I’m a sure a half decent industrial chemist can go a fair way to reverse engineer in any case - hell for that matter, every other juice I buy tastes like FA anyway (sure would like to know where to get decent natural flavours from...), so these ‘Wizards’ who put liquids in bottles can bloody well come to the party too dammit!

While we’re discussing this - given the stellar margins, why the hell do we have to put up with food grade and not BP/USP in our doublers, I mean, I can buy USP for $10 a litre *retail* FFS! And I think it was FM said there *is* actually a bit of difference between the two - and my point is for a few extra cents per mL, I’ve done enough trashing of the temple and will take every percentage I can get - I’m done with other dude’s profit margins being tied up with what goes in my body and we should be able to make the choice.

Grrrrrrrrr!

Wow - where did that come from!

Beg pardon folks. Hope your eyes are better Mrs G.

 

I think companies only have to have MSDS's for substances that are actually known to be hazardous to health

Maybe SS600 could clarify this

 

Good grief man, wtf were you thinking?
Do you know how many dihydrogen monoxide related deaths there are every year?
Another risk taker not long for this world.

 

personally i don't touch that stuff unless it's been thoroughly boiled then had plant derived caffeine and sucrose added to it first. i mean really who'd consume it straight. you do know what fish do in it right ?

 

OFFS Stoney I just had to google that I was worried