VG is usually made from soy, coconut, or palm oil, each being slightly different. Palm oil seems to be preferred for e-liquid, but I don't use it because rainforests.
This. I prefer Palm derived for taste and viscosity. Will not use soy or unlisted (which is usually soy). Some manufacturers advertise that they use sustainable methods for their palm production. Musim Mas is one of them (nicotine river). Could be just propaganda though.
USP = US Pharmaceutical Grade. Palm Derived, with the Highest Purity.
We looked for this question last week, but couldn't find a definitive answer -> Is Palm VG created from the kernel (the fruit) of the palm? Or from the plant itself?
Looks like the kernel from what I could find
https://www.chemnic.com/Vegetable-Glycerin
As long as it is USP grade you're OK. USP grade requires it to be at least 99.0% pure, but some VG can go as high as 99.96% pure.
Some of the VG types out there can have some after taste, best is to vape it unflavored to see if it is ok as aftertastes can obviously fuck with your DIY mixing. (it should just taste slightly sweet, maybe a slight bit like custard)
You can ask the supplier for a copy of the COA (Certificate of Analysis), this will give you the purity. They get a COA when the buy it from the manufacturer. Just don't freak out when you see some of the impurities in there, remember that it is parts per million, and no matter how bad it sounds, it is such a small amount that it will make no difference.
Whether it is made from plants or animal sources, the end product is indistinguishable, but generally in e-cigs the Vegetable Glycerin is used, probably because people perceive products made from plants rather than animals to be healthier. It can also be synthetically produced, but that is not cost effective, so you probably won't find any synthetic VG anywhere.
The non USP grade glycerin is less than 99% pure and can basically have anything in it as it is not as strictly regulated and tested as USP grade. So you can probably use it in a pinch, but I wouldn't.
I think USP is actually as low as 97.9
Nope, definitely 99.0 :)
http://www.usp.org/sites/default/files/usp_pdf/EN/USPNF/revisions/2009-01-30glycerinmonograph.pdf
Other responses have pretty much covered your question but ill go into why because of personal experience. DONT cheap out on your ingredients your product will reflect it.
I don't know what brand of vg it was because the friend who made me the juice tore off the label.
I do know it was not usp. Basically the juice had the aftertaste of lake water. No matter what we did. A bunch of different mixes with different concentrates (even just pure menthol) could not cover up the lake flavor.
Then came the coil gunking. It was less than a day of juice on fresh cotton before I couldn't taste my other juices either, it burned out the coil on the inside leaving nasty gunk.
Binned the whole bottle and everything we made with it.
I bought a gallon of VG off Amazon and it was crap. Wasn't thick at all like it should be. About the same consistency as PG. Wouldn't produce vapor for shit. Got some VG from Bull City and there's a 100% difference.
I've bought VG from both Bull City and Amazon, and I honestly couldn't tell the difference. Bummer you got some bunk VG.
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i imagine you can as its made from plants. ensure you get food grade.
Is pharma grade the same as food grade?
Unless you're buying a drum, it's not pharma grade, no matter what the label says. Once that drum is opened in a non-pharma environment, it's no longer pharma grade.
While technically correct (the best kind of correct!), consumers should still be looking for the USP, BP, or equivalent grade label to ensure the rebottler used pharma grade to start with. FYI you can buy pharma grade in small quantities from laboratory supply places that are manufacturer sealed, it's just not cost effective to do so.