Here's a research paper about the subject, which you may or may not have seen yet:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/ful ... 2/ygh2.336
They seem to think that there's little hard evidence of any such effects, that a lot of the anxieties around the matter may have been created by social media memes, but that there hasn't been enough research to categorically conclude that there's nothing in it. Despite the title of the paper, they don't mention psychiatric effects very often. So, probably not a lot of help there, but they do give a lot of references to other research, and it's something of a "meta-study" that examines a lot of other research, so maybe it'll be of some use.
It's a matter I have some personal interest in because I vape e-liquids that commonly contain propylene glycol, and curiously my problem of generalised itching has been generally more intense than it used to be before I started vaping, though it's hard to know from my experiences whether that's what's causing it. As glycerol can be used instead of propylene glycol, I could in theory switch to that, but it wouldn't be easy in practice because I'm already very fussy about which e-liquids I use (I avoid flavourings and I much prefer a high nicotine concentration so I don't have to vape so much to get the required dose of nicotine), so also insisting on no PG would reduce my choices even further. I could easily make my own e-liquid if only the law wasn't so restrictive about ordinary people buying the concentrated stock solutions I'd need.
If you're concerned about PG exposure generally, it's even more difficult, because the stuff is added to so many processed foods and lotions etc. Personally I always prefer to eat food I've prepared myself from simple ingredients, and sometimes it's possible to make your own lotions etc., if you can't find a source that's free of PG, but it can require a lot of work.
18 Aug 2021, 12:12 am
