This is a fairly controversial topic, but i'll do my best to share my knowledge. I have worked as a chemist in a medical MJ facility, handling the extraction and production of all products, from dry material to oils, edibles and distillates. My background is in biochem and organic chemistry...
For emphasis and to reference my views here, always use dry plant material when administering dosages. The commercial oil products put into pens (not dabs, shatter or distillates) are cut with synthetic, processed oils. It is these oils used to dilute and 'cut' products is what causes the harmful effects seen in both MJ and nicotine products.
If you are going to vape, always use dry plant material out of a well certified device (even if you have to spend up). The oil we put into vape pens or sold for use in vape pens was cut with a variety of compounds that I didn't entirely agree with. It was, quite literally, whatever was cheapest at the time. Glycol's and various 'MCT oil's' were used primarily. For oral ingestion, they're fine, but not for inhalation. (Glycol's are used in almost all legal CBD products).
Dabs, shatter and distillates are safe, as they are the pure extract oil uncut. From the facility I worked at, we used CO2 to extract the oils from plant material, and ethanol to dissolve it for purification. Many facilities use propane or butane instead of CO2, but I wouldn't find that to be harmful. There would be very little, if any left over and it's not that unsafe to consume.
As for health from general inhalation...inhaling oils of any kind is going to be 'harmful'. Oils are sticky, they will stick to the bronchial tubes and alveoli, and they will to a certain degree inhibit absorption of oxygen and degrade cilia. You will encounter some minor, short term respiratory issues after inhaling. Cilia will numb, mucus production will increase, inflammation will occur from the irritation from the vapor. It's the nature of the act, vaping attempts to decrease the intensity of these effects.
Comparable to smoking, it's dramatically better for lung function. Smoking, alongside carcinogen inhalation, has a lot more oils ('tar') and does significantly more damage. Vaping is easy on the lungs by comparison and seems to not have many of the long term damaging effects that smoking has.
Does vaping degrade performance? In my personal opinion, not to any reasonable degree from a respiratory function standpoint. Vaping dry plant material from a good device seems to be very safe. Not inhaling anything ever at all is obviously better, but there's only one true way to use MJ products in a viable manner. Edibles are there, but there's many factors relating to edibles that affect absorption, longevity, and are fairly inconvenient. Edibles aren't a reliable, convenient method of administering this product, but yes, it is of course the safest.
Strava
For emphasis and to reference my views here, always use dry plant material when administering dosages. The commercial oil products put into pens (not dabs, shatter or distillates) are cut with synthetic, processed oils. It is these oils used to dilute and 'cut' products is what causes the harmful effects seen in both MJ and nicotine products.
If you are going to vape, always use dry plant material out of a well certified device (even if you have to spend up). The oil we put into vape pens or sold for use in vape pens was cut with a variety of compounds that I didn't entirely agree with. It was, quite literally, whatever was cheapest at the time. Glycol's and various 'MCT oil's' were used primarily. For oral ingestion, they're fine, but not for inhalation. (Glycol's are used in almost all legal CBD products).
Dabs, shatter and distillates are safe, as they are the pure extract oil uncut. From the facility I worked at, we used CO2 to extract the oils from plant material, and ethanol to dissolve it for purification. Many facilities use propane or butane instead of CO2, but I wouldn't find that to be harmful. There would be very little, if any left over and it's not that unsafe to consume.
As for health from general inhalation...inhaling oils of any kind is going to be 'harmful'. Oils are sticky, they will stick to the bronchial tubes and alveoli, and they will to a certain degree inhibit absorption of oxygen and degrade cilia. You will encounter some minor, short term respiratory issues after inhaling. Cilia will numb, mucus production will increase, inflammation will occur from the irritation from the vapor. It's the nature of the act, vaping attempts to decrease the intensity of these effects.
Comparable to smoking, it's dramatically better for lung function. Smoking, alongside carcinogen inhalation, has a lot more oils ('tar') and does significantly more damage. Vaping is easy on the lungs by comparison and seems to not have many of the long term damaging effects that smoking has.
Does vaping degrade performance? In my personal opinion, not to any reasonable degree from a respiratory function standpoint. Vaping dry plant material from a good device seems to be very safe. Not inhaling anything ever at all is obviously better, but there's only one true way to use MJ products in a viable manner. Edibles are there, but there's many factors relating to edibles that affect absorption, longevity, and are fairly inconvenient. Edibles aren't a reliable, convenient method of administering this product, but yes, it is of course the safest.
Strava