Trees

The terpenes used in vape carts to dilute and reintroduce flavor and aroma (which is lost in some extraction methods) also produces harmful byproducts when vaped. [1]

Should straight up avoid any flavored vape juices.

Some of the food-safe diluent agents used in vape products may be harmful when aerosolized and inhaled, as they were never actually studied under those conditions.

[Cannabis] extracts are not diluted in propylene glycol or glycerol like nicotine due to their hydrophobic properties. Instead, various forms of oils including vegetable oils, terpenes, and tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E acetate) have been reported as diluents. In most reported cases of EVALI, additional flavoring additives are also added to products.

Although many of these diluent agents and flavorings have been “generally recognized as safe” for oral ingestion by the FDA, recent research shows that when heated to form an aerosol and inhaled, conditions including bronchitis, bronchiolitis, acute hypoxic respiratory distress, lipoid-associated pneumonia, and pneumonitis may result. [2]

There's poor regulation when it comes to a lot of the products out there, especially those sold in gas stations and smoke shops (but also can be an issue in dispensaries).

Another problem with vape pens and e-cigs is the cheap atomizers/coils used, especially in disposables. There have been confirmed cases of these coils/atomizers leeching heavy metals into the vapor produced.[3]

This is such a new and under-studied area I personally find it's not worth risking it vaping concentrates. I'll stick with my dry herb vaping with my Volcano and Mighty+, which are actually certified medical devices. [4]

I use a Pax2 and it never makes me cough. What are you referring to by “Vapes”? Concentrate pens ?

Dry herb feels smoother but I also feel it in my lungs the next day. I’m hoping it’s safer on the lungs

Cartridge vapes can have stuff added to them to dilute the product especially cheaper ones with no lab testing, rosin vapes are less likely to be diluted but are usually much pricier. Instead of cartridge vaporizers get a good electric dry herb vape and use flower or concentrates that have been tested.

There's a couple of potential causes so I'm going to shotgun some answers and see what sticks.

Most concentrates are extracted with a solvent; blast the solvent through plant material and it pulls the oils out. The solvent then has to be purged from the oils with a vacuum oven (basically the concentrate is put in a sealed box and all the gas is pumped out, which causes the dissolved solvent to boil out, leaving only uncontaminated concentrate). If the purging isn't done correctly you can end up with some solvent left in the concentrate though. "Good" extractors use supercritical CO2 because it doesn't really matter if you get some CO2 in your lungs, but it's expensive and hard to work with. Cheaper solvents used include butane and propane, and it matters very much if you get that shit in your lungs. So, it could be improperly processed concentrate causing you to cough. This is less likely if you got it at a licensed dispensary (but even licensed dispensaries have sold bunk shit in the past, so that's not a guarantee).

It could also be that the oil is just getting too hot. Concentrates in pens aren't always the same viscosity, so if it's thinner than your rosin it might vaporise more easily, meaning shorter hits will get the same amount of vapour, but not as harsh. "Direct to lung" can also cause coughing because the oil gets hotter and hotter, and doesn't have a second to cool down in your mouth before you inhale.

What brand do you mean by Standard vapes, unless Standard is a brand? I use Arizer and it's never been an issue

Never get non-rosin

try turning the battery down to the lowest voltage. and preheat so you don't have a long time beforenitnhits (reduces the surprise.)