Chemical Composition of JUUL Pods Collected From Students in California High Schools

Labelling and composition of contraband electronic cigarettes: Analysis of products from Australia

BACKGROUND

The sale of nicotine-containing electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) is prescription only in Australia, regulated under the Standard for Nicotine Vaping Products (TGO110). Australian e-cigarette users, however, are purchasing e-cigarette products outside of the intended pathways.

METHODS

The labelling of e-cigarette packaging (N = 388 boxes) and the chemical composition of disposable e-cigarettes and pods (N = 428) were analysed for adherence to the current Australian regulations. These samples were confiscated from over-the-counter retailers in NSW by the NSW Ministry of Health during 2022 for non-compliance with Australian regulations.

RESULTS

Following the announcement of the prescription only model for nicotine-containing e-cigarettes in Australia in mid-2021 there was a clear shift in the labelling of products. Any mention of the word 'nicotine' was removed from e-cigarette packaging by early 2022 and nicotine warnings were replaced with generic underage sale warnings. Despite this labelling, the vast majority (98.8 %) of devices analysed contained nicotine, most (89 %) at high concentration (>30 mg/mL) and 4.2 % contained at least one chemical prohibited by the TGO110.

CONCLUSIONS

It appears that manufacturers have removed any mention of nicotine from the original packaging of nicotine-containing disposable e-cigarettes to circumvent restrictions on nicotine-containing products and continue their sale. The packaging of e-cigarette products in Australia is generally not indicative of their contents, particularly nicotine, and most did not display required warnings. Ingredients with associated health risks, prohibited in legal vapes by the TGO110, were found in samples. Consequently, the risks of e-cigarette use cannot be appropriately identified from the information supplied on the packaging or device.

The associations between e-liquid characteristics and its pricing: Evidence from online vape shops

Given the increase in electronic cigarette use during the past decade, the objectives of this study are to obtain comprehensive product-level information from online vape shops, which are one of the most common outlets for e-cigarette users to purchase vaping products, especially e-liquid products, and to examine the appeal of various e-liquid product attributes to consumers. We used web scraping and estimation of generalized estimating equation (GEE) models to obtain and analyze data from five popular online vape shops that sell nationwide across the US. The outcome measures are e-liquid pricing for the following e-liquid product attributes: nicotine concentration (in mg/ml), nicotine form (nicotine-free, freebase, or salt), vegetable glycerin/propylene glycol (VG/PG) ratio, and a variety of flavors. We find that the pricing for freebase nicotine and nicotine salt products are 1% (p<0.001) lower and 12% higher (p<0.001), respectively, than that for products that do not contain nicotine. For nicotine salt-based e-liquid products specifically, the pricing for a 50/50 VG/PG ratio is 10% (p<0.001) higher than the pricing for a more common 70/30 VG/PG ratio, and the pricing for fruity flavors is 2% (p<0.05) higher than that for tobacco/unflavored products. Regulating the nicotine form in all e-liquid products and fruity flavor in nicotine salt-based products will have a great impact on the market and consumers. The preference for VG/PG ratio varies by product nicotine form. More evidence on typical user patterns of a certain nicotine form (i.e., freebase or salt nicotine) is needed to assess the public health consequences of these regulations.