June 24, 2020

UOW expert: Dr Jody Morgan on import ban of e-cigarettes and nicotine refills

From 1 January 2021 people will no longer be able to import nicotine-containing e-cigarette fluids into Australia, even with a prescription.

Dr Jody Morgan is a toxicology expert from the School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience at the University of Wollongong. She says several problems may arise as a result of this ban.

“There are over 100,000 regular vapers in Australia and this means as of July they won’t be able to access their nicotine-containing e-fluids. These people might revert back to smoking, which has an increased risk of harm,” she says. 

“There’s also a chance that international companies will produce nicotine-containing fluids without nicotine labels or appropriate warnings to allow the import of these substances, which increases the risk of accidental nicotine exposure.”

Dr Morgan says people are also more likely to import high concentrations of nicotine to mix themselves, which is dangerous.

“There is currently up to 1000 mg/ml nicotine in a 1L bottle available for import to Australia. This is 42 times more concentrated than the highest concentrations of pre-mixed nicotine used by vapers. This poses a serious risk, particularly for accidental oral or dermal exposure.”

Dr Morgan is available for interview.