Chinese counterfeits and the electronic cigarette

[Oliver]

Last night on UK television (channel 4, 8pm) there was a very illuminating program - "The fake trade"

I had no idea of the sheer scale and breadth of counterfeiting in China until last night. Here are the salient facts in bullets:

• Around 20% of the entire Chinese economy is raised through the production of counterfeit goods.[/*:m:1csn12bz]
• If it sells, it will be copied - books, clothes, sports gear, electronics - you name it, they are copying it, and copying it accurately.[/*:m:1csn12bz]
• The problem is so vast that many brand owners have simply given up trying to stop it. They raid one factory - another just springs up in its place. [/*:m:1csn12bz]
• Some top end brands refuse even to acknowledge that the problem exists, feeling that to do so might devalue the brand overall.[/*:m:1csn12bz]
• Whole villages across China are being transformed into production facilities, sometimes for just one single product. One, we were shown in the documentary, produces only one variety of "Colgate" toothpaste.[/*:m:1csn12bz]
• In many cases, the production is known about, and often facilitated by Communist Party officials. You and I may call this corruption, but the view taken by many Chinese and the officials is that this is legitimate payback for centuries of economic bullying from the west.[/*:m:1csn12bz]
• The counterfeiting operations are often carried out by those who are trusted business partners of the original brands. A whole separate system of supply and distribution has been set up that just copies the original one.[/*:m:1csn12bz]
• As said above, if it sells, it will be copied; The counterfeiters have even managed to copy the egg! And since they can now be produced en masse and on demand, they are cheaper to produce than the real thing and are sold all over China.[/*:m:1csn12bz]
• Needless to say the counterfeit goods are almost always sub-quality and the workers are subjected to dangerous conditions and low pay.[/*:m:1csn12bz]

What does this mean for the electronic cigarette?

Well, we have often spoken here about "gray technology", "low-quality products" and "cheap knock-offs", but I think it's time we have a good think about what we are really talking about.

Let's face it, there are now countless sellers offering electronic cigarettes, often for very low prices. And if they seem too good to be true, they probably are. We now know of several brands that do not perform anywhere near as well as they should, and from my own experience, although the batteries and the connecting threads are interchangeable between the brands, some of them are distinctly lower quality than others.

And that is just the equipment. Then we must consider the consumable product - the e-liquid that we are inhaling. The segment that really worried me last night was the one in which eggs were being made. The manufacturer had several large bags of industrial chemicals and was just mixing them up together to create "eggs". These "eggs" will end up in the Chinese food chain and who knows what health problems they will pose? There was no hint that any concern had been paid as to the problems this could cause.

I think it is fair to say that the likelihood of counterfeit e-liquid is very high. I don't want to panic anybody - and all of this should still be viewed relative to the known dangers of cigarette smoke - but I think it is time to do some research into the e-liquid and where we can be guaranteed a safe product.

Anybody with me on this? Get in touch below and we will start to look at ways we can sort the wheat from the chaff.

Yours,

SJ

 

[woody]

We definitely need to know what we are inhaling. The latest idea of injecting the liquid nicotine using a hyperdermic syringe may be effective but it doesn't give the image that we would like to create for ecigs. I'm all for having properly regulated products. It would only need a few "dodgy" products that cause a danger to health to get the whole lot banned.

 

[accordeur]

It is kind of frightening. There is no need to use a hypodermic though, the dropper works fine. It's true that all this counterfeiting could result in the banning of e-liquid. Guess we better stock up. I wonder if we could find the recipe for it and how difficult it would be to make our own? Thanks SJ for keeping us up to date, this forum is great.

 

[Oliver]

I doubt it would be that hard to make your own e-liquid - if you could get the ingredients (Ie. nicotine).

I think I am correct in saying that Freesmoke have their liquid made for them in a Spanish pharmacy, but don't quote me on that as it was a while ago that I read it.

But that is the point though, so long as you can be sure that the ingredients are pure everything else is fine. I'm not assuming, by the way, that there is anything wrong with the e-liquid being sold globally - I just don't know.

As a precaution I will be buying mine from established sellers such as Sedansa, Njoy - large companies that have a reputation to look out for.

I screwed up my order for the Freesmoke liquid - I have redone it so will hopefully get it in a couple of days and let you all know how it is.

SJ

 

[TropicalBob]

Great thread. We do need answers. These very questions, though, are the kind that will get regulatory government agencies involved. We can have it cheap, or we can have it regulated. We won't get it both ways.

I'm concerned about why cartridges darken. So far, E-Cig has not responded to a post on their forum asking that question of the company. I'm sure THEY know. At least, I hope so.

FYI: I once searched hard for a source of pure nicotine a consumer could buy. Couldn't find one. The biggest customer is Big Tobacco, who apparently (we aren't allowed to know) adds nicotine to its highly processed cigarette tobacco, along with flavorings, so we get the same product with each pack purchase. But that nicotine cannot be sold to ordinary consumers. I was pleased to find e-Liquid -- and I'll stock up on it before it's banned.

The syringe does make an e-smoker feel like a druggie. Picture sitting in the recliner, a syringe in one hand, a bottle in another, drawing liquid that is then carefully injected into a cartridge. I did that yesterday for a long time. The purpose of the syringe is to completely fill a cartridge - from the bottom up. The eyedropper works, but is a top-down trickle fill. You can force a lot more liquid by using the syringe.

For a magazine article I'm writing, I've been corresponding with the New Zealand researcher doing work with Ruyan money. I'll see if he can answer the "darkening" question and I'm willing to send him some of my used cartridges. I'm curious whether all this is as healthy as advertised, and as we hope it is.

 

[marian00]

Hi again, Smokey Joe:

Thank you very much for your time and effort in writing this very important "article" regarding counterfeit e-smoking devices. It serves very well as a LOUD-and-CLEAR caveat to us all to be most cautious when purchasing items from China. Your article was well written and very much appreciated.

Thank you.
Marian

 

[woody]

Hi Tropicalbob
I have noticed that cartridges filled with the Freesmoke liquid do not seem to darken like the stuff from E-Cig does.

 

[TropicalBob]

Woody, all: E-cig finally answered the "darkening" question. They said that was caused by the tobacco extract used in the e-Liquid. It's not from nicotine and it's not tar. It's discolored from the extract being drawn through the cartridge. Now, I'm not saying that's correct; it's just their explanation. I look forward to some kind of scientific analysis of a used cartridge. Whatever is in there is also in our lungs.

 

[Perfectionist]

Yup the purity of e-liquid is the main worry ..... however I'm pretty sure that even the lowest quality refills will be much less harmful than a real cigarette ! (I hope !)

 

[yo han]

Yeah, that crossed my mind too
90% of the liquid is propylene glycol, the rest is tobacco extract en very low concentrations of acid and essence.
I wouldn't worry too much about it. I think sitting next to an analog smoker is more harmful than smoking second grade e-liquid

 

[Perfectionist]

What a wonderful way of putting it ! "Analogue" Smoker ! I like it !

Lets hope that "Digital" Smoking becomes as ubiquitous as Computers !

I can't wait for the day I can poke fun at some guy who is lighting a cigarette by saying "Dude, you seriously need to upgrade !"

 

[dc2k08]

well, i've been trawling through old threads of this forums threads today to see what gold i missed out on and found this thread so i thought i would bump it.

The documentary SJ was talking about is very interesting. kind of answered some of the patent questions i had had. nobody much cares about patent rights in china as the government turns a blind eye but pretends it has cracked down. now we have an original chinese patent that is being copied by many other chinese factories and they know there is little use in chasing their intellectual property.

quite sad about half way through to see a fairly talented painter earning $1 for each reproduction he creates of van goghs work..but he is fairly stoic about the whole thing....makes me wonder how much these e-cigs actually cost to create and how much of a mark-up they put on them. i hope to find this out.

you can check out the full documentart here
Watch Fake Trade Online Free

the manafacture of fake eggs is @ ~22.45 for those who want to skip ahead to that part...bizarre and worrying. wonder if our beloved e-liquid is made any different.

also check out the response to the journalist's questions @~5.36...about sums it up

didnt realise either that there are more epsiodes in the series, but i cant find them...wish channel 4 would just through them up online. they do but for one week only.