W HAT ARE E LECTRONIC N ICOTINE D ELIVERY
S YSTEMS (ENDS)?
Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS)
ENDS, also known as e‐cigarettes, vapes, vape‐pens, mods,
electronic smoking devices, and JUULs, are battery operated
devices that allow the user to inhale an aerosol (NOT a harmless
water vapor) containing nicotine, lavorings, and other harmful
toxins. 3
All e‐cigarettes have essentially the same three main components: 4
1. The battery
2. The cartridge, which contains the e‐liquid
3. The microprocessor, which heats up the e‐liquid.
Smoke without fire
Suck on an e‐cigare e and it produces a cloud of nico ne‐carrying
vapor with none of the toxic by‐products of burning tobacco
Sensor detects when
smoker takes a drag
Heater vaporizes nico ne
CARTRIDGE
MICROPROCESSOR
LED lights up when the
Holds nico ne dissolved
smoker draws on the
Control heater
BATTERY
cigare e
In propylene glycol
and light
ENDS are tobacco products according to the FDA de inition. 5 This means the FDA now
regulates the manufacturing, importing, packaging, advertising, and distribution of ENDS.
E‐Liquid/E‐Juice
E‐liquid (also known as e‐juice and vape juice) is a lavored
liquid used in ENDS/e‐cigarettes. E‐liquid almost always
contain nicotine.
E‐liquids are made up of chemicals including nicotine,
propylene glycol, glycerin, and lavorings. As of 2018,
there were over 15,600 different e‐cigarette lavors
on the market. 6
A study looked at e‐liquid samples found that samples labeled 18 mg/mL of nicotine
actually ranged from 11.6 to 27.4 mg/mL of nicotine. Nicotine was detected in 91.4% of
samples labeled as having 0 mg/mL of nicotine. 7
4