A strong and growing body of science now exists, showing that switching from conventional, combustible cigarettes to e-cigarettes significantly reduces a user’s exposure to harmful and potentially harmful constituents (HPHCs). While this evidence has been accepted by some health bodies, notably in the UK, where the place of e-cigarettes in smoking cessation is official health advice, many regions of the world still view e-cigarettes as a potential health and addiction issue.

An area of particular recent concern in convincing consumers, health professionals, and regulators of the benefits of switching to e-cigarettes is the perception that a not insignificant number of products available to consumers fail to comply with the regulatory requirements of markets for which they are on sale. To investigate this perception, Broughton Life Sciences analyzed a cross-section of the disposables market in the UK to determine which products were in compliance with the UK’s relatively light-touch Tobacco and Related Products Regulations (TRPR).

For the products selected from the market, their registration with the MHRA was confirmed, and analytically, liquid fill volume and nicotine concentration were measured to determine whether the products were in compliance with the TRPR stipulation of less than a maximum of 2 mL of liquid and nicotine concentration of no more than 20 mg/mL.

The data presented will show the scale of the issue in the UK market of non-compliant disposable e-cigarette products, and we will present a potential test package that should be undertaken to ensure products are compliant, which will allow the industry to show that it is serious in giving consumer well-control products as an alternative to conventional cigarettes.