Some e-cigarettes could have close to twice the legal limit of nicotine in them, health experts say, as the Government scrambles to clarify rules causing confusion in the industry.
It comes after a Fair Go investigation last night prompted the Government to send out an urgent safety alert warning retailers to strip their shelves of products with illegally high nicotine levels.
A copy of the alert sent out to retailers and manufacturers, seen by Fair Go, shows the Vaping Regulatory Authority says in some cases, notifiers appear to have provided false or misleading information in their product notifications with regards to the quantity of nicotine in a product.
However, the alert has led to confusion over which products can be sold.
“The details does not match with the reality on the bottle,” Sasan Said Mohammadi, the owner of Auckland's SVS Vape Store, said.
"Some of them was like double difference."
Official notices have gone out to retailers and manufacturers to immediately pull products off shelves. (Source: 1News)
A professor of public health at the University of Auckland, Chris Bullen, told 1News it’s “possible” some of the upper range products “may have almost double the amount of nicotine”.
Vapes can have up to 50mg per ml of nicotine salt. However, the Government has been advised there could be some products with much more than the legal limit, with some interpreting that as allowing 50mg of nicotine – which is much stronger than the law intended.
Bullen said people run the risk of getting nicotine poisoning.
“[Nicotine is] a poison – it's actually a naturally occurring pesticide found in some plants."
Sasan Said Mohammadi was on the phone with suppliers checking what he needed to take off his shelves. (Source: 1News)
He said while it’s unlikely, the risk of addiction could increase.
“Over time, you become adjusted to those levels of nicotine and you may want to maintain that level or you may go after more,” he said.
“If you're getting inadvertently high doses, you may not know that you're becoming more exposed to more nicotine.”
Retailers who fail to comply could be hit by a fine of up to $400,000 if it goes to court, the Ministry of Health confirmed yesterday.
The ministry did not respond to a request from 1News today for more information about the scale of the problem and the extra steps it is taking following the alert.
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