Scientific-Technical Support Activities to DG
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Scientific-technical support activities to DG TAXUD-C-2 on the option to include e-cigar ettes within the scope of excisable goods for the Impact Assessment on a possible revision of Directive 2011/64/EU Administrative Arrangement TAXUD/2015/DE/329 Final report Thomas Wenzl, Zuzana Zelinkova, Jorge Regueiro, Anupam Giri 201 7 EUR 29062 This publication is a Technical report by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission’s science and knowledge service. It aims to provide evidence-based scientific support to the European policy-making process. The scientific output expressed does not imply a policy position of the European Commission. Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use which might be made of this publication. Contact information Name: Thomas Wenzl Address: JRC Geel, Retieseweg 111, B-2440 Geel E-mail: [email protected] JRC Science Hub https://ec.europa.eu/jrc JRC105825 EUR 29062 EN PDF ISBN 978-92-79-77729-5 ISSN 1831-9424 doi:10.2760/663170 Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2017 © European Union, 2017 The reuse of the document is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged and the original meaning or message of the texts are not distorted. The European Commission shall not be held liable for any consequences stemming from the reuse. How to cite: Wenzl, T.; Zelinkova, Z.; Regueiro, J.; Giri, A., Scientific-technical support activities to DG TAXUD-C-2 on the option to include e-cigarettes within the scope of excisable goods for the Impact Assessment on a possible revision of Directive 2011/64/EU , EUR 29062 EN, 2017. ISBN 978-92-79-77729-5, doi:10.2760/663170 All images © European Union 2017 Table of contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................ 3 Executive summary ............................................................................................... 4 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 5 Determination of nicotine and nicotine related alkaloids in commercial e-liquids ............ 7 1.1 Samples ............................................................................................... 7 1.1.1 Sample preparation and analysis .......................................................... 7 1.1.2 Tobacco alkaloid content of liquids used in e-cigarettes ........................... 9 Volatile profiles of tobacco and non-tobacco flavoured e-liquids ................................ 13 1.2 Samples ............................................................................................. 14 1.2.1 Sample preparation and analysis ........................................................ 14 1.3 Data Analysis ...................................................................................... 14 1.3.1 Classification of samples .................................................................... 15 1.3.1.1 Partial least square discrimination ................................................. 16 1.3.1.2 Decision tree ................................................................................. 18 Conclusion.......................................................................................................... 20 ANNEX 1 – Analytical method for the determination of tobacco alkaloids in e-liquids, test samples, and results ............................................................................................ 21 A1.1. Analysis of tobacco alkaloids by HPLC-MS/MS in HILIC mode ..................... 21 A1.2. Test samples ....................................................................................... 26 A1.3. Contents of tobacco alkaloids determined in e-liquid test samples .............. 34 ANNEX 2 – Analytical method for the evaluation of flavour profiles ............................ 44 A2.1. Analysis of volatile constituents of e-liquids by thermal desorption high-resolution gas chromatography QTOF mass spectrometry ............................... 44 A2.2. Test samples ....................................................................................... 46 A2.3. Compound identification ....................................................................... 49 References ......................................................................................................... 53 List of figures ...................................................................................................... 55 List of tables ....................................................................................................... 56 Acknowledgements The authors wish to acknowledge the good collaboration with colleagues from DG TAXUD, particularly with Mrs Annerie Bouw. 3 Executive summary Electronic-cigarettes are electrical devices that produce an inhalable aerosol from a special liquid. The liquids (e-liquids) may consist of a solution of nicotine and flavourings in an appropriate solvent. Nicotine-free products are available as well. A large range of differently flavoured e-liquids is offered to the consumer. The market of electronic cigarettes and corresponding e-liquids experienced in recent years enormous growth. Some EU Member States reacted on this development and introduced excise duties on e-liquids. The partial introduction of excise duties in the common market and the lack of harmonisation of their magnitude might cause distortions of the market. For that reason, the Directorate-General Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD) commissioned a study on the identification and characterisation of e-liquids, which should be based on substances naturally occurring in tobacco. The Administrative Arrangement (AA) with DG TAXUD foresaw the determination of the concentrations of nicotine and related tobacco alkaloids in e-liquid samples, and to evaluate the agreement of the measured concentrations with concentrations indicated on the product label. Additionally, the possibility of identifying e-liquids containing tobacco derived flavours had to be studied with the aim to use this information for product classification. More than 200 e-liquid samples acquired in different countries were analysed for their tobacco alkaloid contents by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. A high proportion of the investigated products contained nicotine at a level significantly different from the indicated concentration. Mostly lower concentrations were found. However, significant amounts of nicotine were determined in some products declared as "zero- nicotine". Volatile profiles of 108 e-liquid samples were measured by gas chromatography hyphenated to high-resolution quadrupole time-of-flight (QTOF) mass spectrometry. The data obtained from the analysis of was investigated with multivariate statistical methods for possibilities of discriminating tobacco- and non-tobacco flavoured e-liquids. The developed statistical models allowed identification of tobacco derived products with high probability. If a harmonized taxation of e-liquids were to be proposed, the following considerations should be taken into account in designing the tax base: • The declared nicotine content often does not match with the measured nicotine content; • Moreover, in products declared as ''zero-nicotine'' significant amounts of nicotine can be found; • Chemical analysis allows distinguishing tobacco and non-tobacco e-liquids with high probability. 4 Introduction General information about e-cigarettes Electronic (e-) cigarettes are battery-powered hand-held devices that convert a liquid into an inhalable aerosol. Attempts to produce and commercialise such aerosol dispensers are known for a long time (Robinson, 1930). However, the currently marketed e-cigarettes are based on an invention made in 2004 by the Chinese pharmacist Lik Hon (Hon, 2004). He designed a battery-powered device that aimed to supply nicotine to smokers without exposing them to the tar component of conventional smoking. E-cigarettes typically consist of a mouthpiece, an atomizer, a battery, and a tank that contains the liquid for vaporization ("e-liquid")(Famele et al., 2015). The atomizer is a heating element forming a fine mist from the e-liquid which carries the flavour, and which provides a sensation of smoking to the user. E-cigarettes might be manufactured for single use only, or might contain a replaceable or refillable e-liquid tank, and a rechargeable battery. The lack of standardization has led to various designs of e-cigarettes. Some of the e-cigarettes are in size close to tobacco containing cigarettes, while others are much larger and heavier. Similarly, the number and composition of refill solutions grew in the last decade exponentially. In contrast to tobacco containing cigarettes, for which EU legislation prohibits characterising flavours, e-liquids are marketed with a broad range of flavours and each of them is usually available with different levels of nicotine content (EU, 2014). It should be stressed that only a part of the commercialized e-liquids smells of tobacco. A big proportion of the market comprises e-liquids with non-tobacco flavours. These might taste like alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages (coffee, wine, black tea, brandy, lemonade...), sweets (candy, cookies, chocolate, muffins...), or all kinds of fruits (cherry, strawberry, apple...). The non-tobacco flavoured e-liquids are usually manufactured from flavourings that are GRAS (generally recognized as safe) certified by the Flavour