the flavorants are fairly mysterious, yeah. we know diacetyl is bad to inhale, we don't know how many others are. but if you DIY, only propylene glycol and nicotine are strictly required. vegetable glycerin and flavorants are optional.

I'd choose even the most mysterious Chinese bathtub e-juice over cigarettes though.

Or, maybe do neither?

if you aren't already a smoker? yes, absolutely. but if you are, and you are not the one in ten who has the iron will to quit cold turkey and never relapse, you're better off getting your nicotine fix delivered by ANY medium other than toxic smoke.

Which comes back to my original complaint: vaping has grown so exponentially that there are people vaping who were never old enough to have started smoking.

Flavorless VG is pretty much mystery free. At that point you only need to worry about what’s coming off the actual coils.