Characterising vaping products in the UK: An analysis of Tobacco Products Directive notification data

Nyakutsikwa, Blessing; Britton, John; Bogdanovica, Ilze; Boobis, Alan; Langley, Tessa

Abstract

Aims:
To analyse content and emission data submitted by manufacturers for nicotine‐containing vaping products in the UK in accordance with the European Union Tobacco Products Directive.

Design:
Analysis of ingredient and emission data reported for all e‐liquid‐containing e‐cigarettes, cartridges or refill containers notified to the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) from November 2016 to October 2017.

Setting:
United Kingdom

Cases:
A total of 40,785 e‐liquid containing products.

Measurements:
The average number of ingredients per product, nicotine concentrations, frequency of occurrence ingredients and frequency and levels of chemical emissions.

Findings:
Reports were not standardised in relation to units of measurement or constituent nomenclature. Products listed an average of 17 ingredients and 3.3% were reported not to contain nicotine. 59% of products contained less than 12 mg nicotine per mL, and less than 1% were reported to have nicotine concentrations above the legal limit of 20 mg/mL. Over 1500 ingredients were reported, and other than nicotine the most commonly reported non-flavour ingredients were propylene glycol (97% of products) and glycerol (71%). The most common flavour ingredients were ethyl butyrate (42%), vanillin (35%) and ethyl maltol (33%). The most frequently reported chemical emissions were nicotine (65%), formaldehyde (48%) and acetaldehyde (40%). The reporting of the concentration of emissions was not standardised; emissions were reported in a format allowing analysis of median estimated concentration for between 13% and 100% of products for each reported emission. Most of the frequently reported emissions, other than nicotine, were present in median estimated concentrations below 1 μg/L of inspired air, and with the exception of nicotine, acrolein and diacetyl, at median levels below European Chemicals Agency Long Term Exposure and United States (US) Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) limits, where these were available.

Citation

Nyakutsikwa, B., Britton, J., Bogdanovica, I., Boobis, A., & Langley, T. (2021). Characterising vaping products in the UK: An analysis of Tobacco Products Directive notification data. Addiction, 119(9), 2521-2528. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15463

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 17, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Mar 2, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021-09
• Deposit Date: Feb 18, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 3, 2022
• Journal: Addiction
• Print ISSN: 0965-2140
• Electronic ISSN: 1360-0443
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 119
• Issue: 9
• Pages: 2521-2528
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15463
• Keywords: Medicine (miscellaneous); Psychiatry and Mental health
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5333233
• Publisher URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.15463
• Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Nyakutsikwa, B., Britton, J., Bogdanovica, I., Boobis, A., and Langley, T. (2021) Characterising vaping products in the United Kingdom: an analysis of Tobacco Products Directive notification data. Addiction, 116: 2521– 2528. which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15463 This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.