Yeah, seems to me like the ECF does not want to take a stance on these things, since diketones are probably in a lot of juices and flavorings, but there's currently no real way to get the manufacturers to absolutely assure us that they don't use them. ......
What ECF does is provide the resources. We can't make 'rules'. There are many things that e-liquid suppliers need to be doing a lot better and it's hard to work out which should receive a priority. All ECF can do is try to help.
--------------------------------------
On a personal level this is what I think they need to be doing:
1. Make absolutely sure that no plasticizers can leach into refill liquids
In practice the only way to do this is to supply liquids only in glass bottles. Even the toughest plastics are degraded by some aggressive flavorings. Just using food-grade plastic is probably not enough: are vendors absolutely, positively sure that no liquid mix whatsoever can affect a plastic bottle even after 1 year? The answer is no - unless glass is used.
2. Regularly test the finished retail product, in both new bottles and those stored for months, for known contaminants
Common contaminants such as DEG and pthalates need to be tested for.
They should ask for certificates of analysis for each incoming batch of bulk ingredients.
They should test each finished retail batch for nicotine strength.
You can guarantee that most don't.
3. Exhaustively test a finished retail product occasionally, and publish the result on their site as proof
Nobody does this. Not one single e-liquid vendor does this most obvious and most basic test and/or proves they have done it. When did you last see a current test of a retail bottle of e-liquid? The answer is actually never, because no vendor has ever had a 99.5% analysis of their retail product carried out and then published the result. This is an expensive test and no one is denying that - but if a vendor is turning over $10m a year, or $1m a year, or $0.5m a year - or even $100k a year - shouldn't they do tests to find out what is in their products?
4. Prove they know exactly what is in their retail finished products
No vendor has ever done this (as far as I know). They have no idea exactly, precisely, and totally, what is in the products they sell you.
Prove me wrong.
This is why regulation is inevitable and cannot be described as an unfortunate and unforeseeable result - it's virtually guaranteed by the extreme incompetence and utter recklessness of the e-liquid trade. They have proven beyond doubt that they are only interested in making a buck and have no interest in your health or the future of the industry.
--------------------------
That's my personal point of view and not ECF's. But considering the situation as a whole, how do you think that ECF could improve things? Keeping in mind that if only 'responsible' e-liquid vendors were to be permitted on ECF, in practice that would mean removing all of them?