By Amy Bainbridge.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has lodged a case in the Federal Court against Queensland-based companies Social-Lites and Elusion New Zealand.
The ACCC alleges the companies claimed on their websites that their e-cigarettes did not contain the carcinogens or toxic chemicals found in regular cigarettes.
ACCC chairman Rod Sims said the companies “did not have a reasonable basis for making those claims”.
“When we tested the products we in fact found they did contain particular carcinogens and toxins,” he told the ABC.
“We got testing through the National Measurement Institute, which is the premier institute in Australia for product testing for liquids and chemicals.
“We got them to do that testing as if you were vaping the product, and the allegations we have from that testing is that both Social-Lites and Elusion contain both carcinogens and toxins.”
The ACCC said its testing showed formaldehyde and acetaldehyde were present in both brands of e-cigarettes, among other toxins.
Formaldehyde is classified by the World Health Organisation International Agency for Cancer Research as a Group 1A carcinogen, meaning there is sufficient evidence to show it is carcinogenic to humans.
