Discrepancies in reported versus measured nicotine content of e-cigarette refill liquids across nine European countries before and after the implementation of the EU Tobacco Products Directive

Extract

In recent years, the e-cigarette market across European countries has grown extensively [1, 2], as 15% of Europeans report having tried e-cigarettes, representing a 7.0% increase since 2012 [3]. E-cigarettes are regulated across the 28 European Union (EU) member states [4] under Article 20 of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), a legislative document which aims to regulate the internal European market and to harmonise the safety and quality of e-cigarette products through design specifications, including, but not limited to the volume of the refill container, nicotine content and the existence of child-resistant refill containers, among other parameters. In order for e-cigarette refill vials to be placed onto the market under the TPD, e-cigarettes must deliver nicotine doses at consistent levels under normal conditions of use (Art20;3f); must not contain >20 mg·mL⁻¹ nicotine (Art20;3b); and only ingredients of high purity are to be used in the manufacture of the nicotine-containing liquid (Art20;3d) [4]. Research performed before the TPD was implemented indicated that there were wide inconsistencies between the labelled and the actual nicotine concentration of the products, with production impurities commonly noted [5–9].