Are E-cigarette Nicotine Labels 100 % Accurate?

E-cigarettes are seen as an acceptable medium to help smokers quit cigarettesBut the industry should still be considered as a new industry, and governments, health groups and the tobacco industry are still debating the best way to safely control e-cigarettes use.

In the UK, the requirements for e-cigarettes and refill containers are contained in The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016. Part 6 of the Regulations includes in regulation 31 the line:

information on the nicotine dose and uptake when consumed under normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions.

But a recent study in the US has looked at the accuracy of labels on e-cigarettes and found some significant discrepancies. Do vapers know exactly what nicotine ‘hit’ they’re getting?

It’s all about the alkaloid

Although cigarettes contain thousands of chemicals — it is nicotine that that produces the buzz that keeps people smoking. It is nicotine that e-cigarette manufacturers add to their e-liquids to allow users to get the hit they need. Nicotine is an alkaloid — natural chemicals produced by plants, bacteria and animals that contain nitrogen. Alkaloids have many pharmacological activities but it is their stimulant properties that smokers and coffee drinkers crave — caffeine is another popular alkaloid.

The nicotine found in cigarettes comes from the leaves of tobacco plants — which are an ingredient in cigarettes. But whilst the nicotine in e-cigarettes is extracted from tobacco plants — they are different tobacco plants with a much higher nicotine concentration than those used in conventional cigarettes.

When people smoke or vape — nicotine enters the bloodstream and then passes into the brain. It acts as a stimulant — increasing alertness and reducing anxiety and stress. But nicotine is highly addictive — and with regular use an increased dose is needed to get the same effect each time.

How much nicotine in each e-cigarette?

With the addictive and toxic effects of nicotine, it is important that users know just how much nicotine they are getting in each puff — especially if they are using e-cigarettes as an aid to quit smoking. A recent study published in the Journal of Pediatric Nursing found that 51 percent of labels on e-cigarette containers contained inaccurate nicotine levels when the actual levels were measured.

The study looked at e-cigarettes purchased in shops in the US, and the team used liquid chromatography to measure the nicotine levels in the products purchased. The use of UHPLC to analyse different metabolites including nicotine is discussed in the article, Automation Arrives.

The range of nicotine concentrations found in the samples varied between 66 percent under the label value to in one case 172 percent over the concentration stated on the label. Values way outside the nominal 10 percent variation allowed. The study’s authors stated: ‘Inaccurate labeling can be hazardous because individuals are not expecting to be exposed to higher levels of nicotine than the label indicates’

Although this is a small study, the results show that regulation is necessary to help protect consumers.