Late Breaking Abstract - Differences in flavorant levels and synthetic coolant use between USA, EU and Canadian Juul products

Abstract

“Juul” is the dominating US e-cigarette brand and was recently introduced to Canada, UK, France, Germany, and Italy. US/Canadian products are sold with 5%, 3%, 1.5% (Canada) nicotine content, but EU regulation limits nicotine content to 1.7%. The differential nicotine content raises the question if flavor profiles and Juul device power output differ between countries. Mint, Vanilla, and Mango e-liquids from the 6 countries were analyzed by GC/MS for their principal flavorant and nicotine content. Compositions of Juul e-liquids from the US/Canada were identical and differed from the EU e-liquids, in which principal flavorant concentrations were significantly lower, possibly reflecting user preferences. US/Canadian ‘Mango’ e-liquid contained the emulsifier triethyl citrate which may be necessary to keep the product homogenous, and the “cotton candy flavor ethyl maltol, not present in EU Mango e-liquid. The nicotine content matched label information. In EU Juul ‘Mint’ e-liquids, the reduced menthol content was partially substituted with the synthetic coolant WS-3 (N-ethyl-p-menthane-3-carboxamide), which was not present in US/Canadian products. WS-3 elicits a cooling effect like menthol but lacks its distinct “minty” odor. The inhalational safety of WS-3 is unknown and any legislation targeting menthol in tobacco products should be extended to synthetic coolants as they trigger similar sensory responses.