The ESR scientists tested more than 100 vaping liquid products. Photo / Bevan Conley
A ground-breaking study of vaping products sold in New Zealand has found nicotine levels could be significantly different from what's promised on the label, and bacteria and undeclared substances were found in some brands.
The analysis by the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) provides a detailed snapshot of the vaping liquid products being sold in Aotearoa.
"There are clear discrepancies between ingredients listed on product labels and what we detected in the lab," said ESR pharmaceutical programme team leader Jared Doncliff, who led the research team along with senior scientist Dr Robyn Somerville.
"It's clear there's a way to go in terms of accurate information."
An anti-smoking organisation and the Associate Health Minister say the results are disappointing, but stricter rules for the industry are being rolled out and will help fix the problems highlighted by the research.
The ESR scientists tested more than 100 vaping liquid products which they bought from New Zealand-based online stories in December 2020. Tests were run to detect flavours, controlled substances, bacterial endotoxins, colours, ethanol and nicotine. Results included:
• The nicotine levels of more than half of the samples were more than 10 per cent
lower or higher than that stated on the label. It was more common for levels to be lower than promised, but in one sample nicotine content was 63 per cent higher.
• Nearly all of the liquids contained ethanol (alcohol), which wasn't labelled on any product and is used as a solvent for additives. This could pose an allergy risk, but levels in vaping liquid aren't high enough to cause intoxication.
• The bacteria Streptococcus salivarius and Granulicatella were detected in one sample, which are normally found in the mouth. That's despite the product's labelling claiming it was made in a "class 7 clean room".
Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall told the Weekend Herald the results were concerning, but the samples were bought before new vaping regulations came into effect in August.
They set a deadline of February 11 next year for all manufacturers and importers to have notified a Vaping Regulatory Authority about the products they will sell, with enforcement officers having powers including to inspect premises.
"The vaping substance must contain only what was submitted in the product notification, and a vaping substance must not contain ingredients that pose an unacceptable risk regarding people's safety.
"Under the regulations, substances containing more than 3 per cent alcohol must have the words "contain alcohol" on the label."
Deborah Hart, director of Action for Smokefree 2025 (ASH), said she expected those regulations to improve product quality. ESR's findings were helpful to set a baseline, she said, "and say to the vaping industry, 'Get your act together'."
"The products should be what they say they are. The nicotine levels should be what they say they are."
Hart said it was important, however, that smokers still got the message that vaping products were much less damaging, and could help them quit "uniquely harmful" cigarettes - a position endorsed by other groups including the NZ Medical Association, the Ministry of Health and all 20 DHBs.
"We have over 150,000 people vaping in this country, many of them using it to try and quit cigarettes, and the message to them is, do your homework about where you get your vaping products from. And to the regulator, it is to do your job in making sure that people who are buying these products can rely on them."
Vaping is a term for using an electronic device to heat a liquid into vapour, which the user inhales.
E-liquids can be bought in many different nicotine strengths. Nicotine is an addictive chemical and how much is consumed is important for smokers who switch to vaping and then try to "step down" the nicotine strength over time. School leaders and others have also voiced concerns about non-smokers regularly vaping.
The scientists at ESR, which is New Zealand's Crown Research Institute, found that just over half of e-liquid products had nicotine levels more than 10 per cent lower than stated on the label (anywhere between 11 to 67 per cent lower).
Another 7 per cent of samples had nicotine levels more than 10 per cent higher than claimed (between 12 to 63 per cent higher). One "zero nicotine" vape liquid contained a significant amount of the chemical.
None of the products the scientists tested listed ethanol as an ingredient, but it was detected in 95 per cent of samples, ranging from trace levels to 9.6 per cent ethanol. Those levels wouldn't be high enough to be detected in breath alcohol screening, international research suggests, but the undeclared presence of ethanol could be a concern for people with an allergy or sensitivity.
The analysis found no such controlled substances such as THC (which have been detected by some overseas studies), and the ratio of common vaping base materials was largely as expected.
More than one in 10 of the products tested positive for endotoxins, which are components of gram-negative bacteria such as E. coli that are released when the bacteria dies. These can cause health problems, but little is known about whether endotoxins would actually end up in the inhaled vapour. ESR is considering ways to analyse the vapour itself.
The vaping liquids were also tested for bacteria, yeast and moulds. Ten per cent produced a small number of colonies, but none were identified as pathogenic (disease-causing). The product containing Streptococcus salivarius and Granulicatella bacteria was the most notable result from the microbiological testing.
ESR declined at this stage to name the products tested, saying the study purpose was to provide insight into wider issues and not focus on individual products. Further analysis in 2021/22 is likely, which would help show any change under the new regulatory regime.
Vaping pods and pens could also be analysed, with a view to eventually publish the full results in an academic journal. Testing wastewater for biomarkers is also being considered.
Since August, most retailers are now banned from selling non-menthol, mint or tobacco-flavoured vape liquid. Specialty vaping stores, like those from which ESR purchased its samples, are still allowed to sell a range of flavours. From next Sunday [NOTE November 28] vaping and smoking in vehicles carrying children will be banned.
The Vaping Trade Association of NZ couldn't be reached for comment. However, its spokesperson Jonathan Devery has previously said reputable operators have been desperate for proper regulation to ensure "world-class product standards to give consumers confidence in the industry".
E-cigarettes are seen as a way to help reach New Zealand's aspirational goal to get smoking rates below 5 per cent by 2025. The Government's advice is that vaping isn't harmless, but much less harmful than smoking, because it avoids the toxins produced by burning tobacco.
Smoking levels are dropping, but at less than half the rate needed.
Tobacco use kills about 4500 people every year, and causes one in four cancer deaths.
This week Verrall received an open letter of support from more than 110 health and community groups for the Government's proposed Smokefree 2025 Action Plan, which would restrict the sale of cigarettes to a much more limited number of "specific store types" - perhaps R18 stores or pharmacies - and reduce nicotine in products "to very low levels". A "smokefree generation" approach has also been proposed, which would prohibit people born after a specified date from ever buying cigarettes or other smoked tobacco products.
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