What Really Waits Inside That Cloud The Silent Chemistry You Inhale Every Time You Draw

Market Analysis: From 2016 to 2026

Ten years ago the conversation around vaping revolved around big tobacco and clunky cartomisers. Today the landscape is dominated by chemists in white coats who speak in milligrams and millilitres. Australian Border Force seizures tell part of the story: in 2016 officers intercepted 22 tonnes of imported e-liquid; by 2026 the figure had fallen to 11 tonnes, yet retail sales revenue doubled. The shift is explained by concentration. Modern pods arrive as 60 mg/mL salt solutions, a ten-fold jump over early 6 mg freebase recipes.

“We now analyse 300 samples a month,” notes Dr Leila Nguyen at the National Measurement Institute in Melbourne. “In 2016 we saw maybe 30. The variety of flavouring agents alone has grown from 80 to 400+.”

The Therapeutic Goods Administration quietly updated its scheduling in 2023, requiring every nicotine product to carry a prescription. Enforcement is patchy, but reputable brands responded by publishing full analytical certificates. The result is a two-speed market: transparent pharmacy lines versus grey-import disposables where labelling ends at “mixed natural & artificial flavours.”

Data Snapshot—January 2026

Base Liquids: Propylene Glycol vs Vegetable Glycerin

Pick up any bottle and you will see two ingredients listed first: propylene glycol (PG) and vegetable glycerin (VG). Together they form the cloud, the throat hit, and the solvent that carries every other molecule. Yet beneath the simplicity lurks nuance.

PG is a petrochemical derivative, colourless, near-odourless, and pharmaceutical-grade when produced for inhalation. It carries flavour brilliantly and thins the mixture so wicking keeps pace with high-wattage coils. VG, harvested from soy or palm, is thicker and naturally sweet. It produces dense, billowing vapour but mutes flavour and stresses cotton wicks at low temperatures.

“Watch a 70 % VG juice sit in a pod with a 0.8 Ω coil at 15 W,” says Melbourne mixologist Jaxon Reid. “Within three days the cotton is caramel-brown. That is glycerin oxidising into acrolein, a known airway irritant.”

Modern disposables run 50/50 to avoid flooding tiny wicking ports. High-wattage sub-ohm tanks swing to 70/30 or even 80/20 for showy clouds. The trade-off is coil life: higher VG accelerates gunk build-up, prompting users to strip the formula back to just base liquids and aroma to preserve flavour purity.

Nicotine Chemistry: Salts, Freebase, and Synthetic Variants

Nicotine is nicotine—except when it is not. Freebase nicotine, the form found in early e-liquids, carries a harsh throat punch above 18 mg/mL. Enter nicotine salt: the same molecule bonded to an acid—usually benzoic or levulinic—that smooths the hit and allows 50 mg/mL without discomfort. The acid also lowers the pH, speeding absorption into the bloodstream.

Synthetic nicotine, marketed as Tobacco-Free Nicotine (TFN), is brewed in reactors rather than extracted from leaf. The molecular structure is identical, yet the absence of tobacco qualifies it as a “new active ingredient” under ACCC guidelines, temporarily sidestepping tobacco-excise rules. By 2026 TFN powers more than one-third of Australian disposables, hidden in plain sight because customs codes do not recognise it as tobacco.

Blood-Level Differences—A 2025 Sydney Study

Flavouring Agents: When Candy Becomes Vapour

Walk into any vape shop and the wall of glass bottles looks like a confectionery aisle. Behind each mango, iced latte, or “unicorn milk” label sits a precise blend of food-grade aroma compounds. The catch? “Food-grade” means safe for ingestion, not inhalation.

Vanilla custard owes its richness to vanillin and ethyl maltol. Strawberry notes arrive via ethyl butyrate and cis-3-hexenyl acetate. Cooling sensations come from menthol or the more potent WS-23. At room temperature these molecules are harmless; at 250 °C some turn suspect. Peer-reviewed toxicology studies list diacetyl, acetyl propionyl, and acetoin as respiratory hazards produced when buttery flavours overheat.

“We analysed 120 dessert flavours last year,” says Dr Nguyen. “Twenty-three contained diacetyl above 100 µg/mL, yet only one brand declared it on the label.”

Australian law does not require disclosure below 1 % concentration, leaving a grey zone where trace diketones hide in strawberry-cheesecake recipes. Curious readers can dig deeper into what creates each flavour note or explore one brand that publishes its full flavouring breakdown.

Thermal By-Products: What Heat Creates

Turn on a coil and chemistry class begins. Glycerin, normally benign, dehydrates above 200 °C to release acrolein, an aldehyde that irritates lung tissue. Propylene glycol oxidises into propylene oxide, a classified carcinogen. Trace metals leach from cheap nichrome coils, and plant-derived flavour esters break down into smaller, more reactive fragments.

The temperature curve matters. A 1.2 Ω coil at 12 W sits around 180 °C, hot enough to aerosolise but relatively gentle. Drop resistance to 0.15 Ω and push power to 80 W and temperatures exceed 280 °C, tripling aldehyde output. Mesh coils accelerate heat exchange, shortening ramp-up but increasing surface area for dry-hot spots.

“We sampled mainstream aerosol from 60 devices,” reports Berlin’s Fraunhofer Institute. “Aldehyde levels varied by a factor of 20 across brands, driven mainly by coil design and user behaviour.”

Industry insiders point to what Berlin labs just uncovered inside popular pods, while Melbourne academics continue pulling back the curtain on supposedly pure vapour.

Lab Results: Four Australian Users, Four Blood Panels

To move beyond theory we commissioned four blood tests from Sydney’s Laverty Pathology in November 2025. Each participant vaped daily for at least six months; none smoked combustible cigarettes. We compared results against national reference ranges and matched each user to a specific device type.

Shopping Guide: Four Formulas, Four Experiences

Below we match four current devices to distinct chemical profiles. Each product is pictured alongside its price and primary sensory notes. Click through to verify stock and shipping to your postcode.

Al Fakher LEMON

AUD $4.99

A zesty and aromatic mix of lemons with a lingering aftertaste. Uses a ceramic coil to minimise metal leaching and lists natural terpenes on the label.

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BIMO Ultra 7500 Puffs Pink Lemonade

AUD $25.90

7,500-puff capacity with transparent ingredient list: 50 mg synthetic nicotine salt, 50/50 PG/VG, natural pink-lemonade terpenes, WS-5 cooling agent. Mesh coil for fast wicking.

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IGET BAR PEACH ICE 3500 Puffs

AUD $33.90

Cool peach with menthol crystals. Contains 35 mg nicotine salts, 60/40 VG/PG, natural peach aldehydes, and Koolada for ice effect. Ships within 24 hours.

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Gunnpod Moss 8000 Cool Mint

AUD $31.90

Invigorating mint pod with 40 mg nicotine salt, 55/45 PG/VG, triple-distilled mint terpenes, and stainless-steel mesh coil for consistent temperature. 8,000 puff lifespan.

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Frequently Asked Questions

1. Check the order. Ingredients appear by weight. If PG tops the list, expect a thinner liquid and sharper throat hit.
2. Decode nicotine notation. “50 mg/mL nicotine salt” means 5 % by weight, roughly equivalent to a strong cigarette.
3. Spot the acid. Words like “benzoate” or “levulinate” signal salt formation, which smooths harshness.
4. Hunt for diketones. Scan for “diacetyl,” “acetyl propionyl,” or “acetoin.” Absence is ideal; presence demands caution above 100 µg/mL.
5. Cross-check flavour names. “Vanilla custard” often hides ethyl maltol and vanillin; “ice” means menthol or WS-23.
6. Verify the batch. Look for a QR code leading to a third-party lab report dated within the last 12 months.