RELX raises e-cigarette quality benchmark

RELX International said it has been employing scientific methods and tools to ensure its e-cigarette products are reliable and of the highest quality.

The multinational e-cigarettes company has invested in the development of five advanced laboratories three years ago. The facilities aim to guarantee product quality and advance research; the former is achieved thanks to the implementation of stringent quality control systems, comprising of 200 tests, on every RELX product ahead of them hitting the market.

In a 20,000 sq.m., ISO eight certified cleanroom, trained technicians perform chemical tests on each item and thoroughly check every batch of e-liquid to ensure quality is maintained with only food-grade ingredients.

Once the products are finished, they are then tested in the quality control and safety laboratory, where their performance is analysed, while being subjected to extreme scenarios including high heat and humidity. Following this, an exhaustive sensory analysis procedure is carried out where experts assess the flavours using several different analytical methods and tools.

“When it comes to product quality and safety, RELX International is its own harshest critic. At our state-of-the-art facilities, up to 200 scientific tests are conducted on every RELX product before they are shipped off to the marketplace,” Robert Naouss, external affairs director at RELX International, explained.

“RELX’s commitment to quality is matched only by its desire to provide legal age consumers with high quality products they can trust.”

As part of its unrelenting quality focus, RELX International pays close attention to the ingredients that make up its e-liquids, using ingredients from the food sector including vegetable glycerine (used in baking) and propylene glycol (found in dairy products, bread, etc).

Additionally, all e-liquids are laboratory-tested in accordance with CNAS (China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment) and the international standard ISO/IEC 17025. This is critical to ensuring the absence of elements that are hazardous to consumers.

RELX’s products do not contain THC or vitamin E acetate, which are listed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as potential causes of lung disease related to e-cigarette use.

RELX is currently also in the midst of the vaping sector’s first clinical research project. Reviewed by the China Clinical Trials Registry and the World Health Organisation's International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, the three-month study is investigating the metabolic kinetics of nicotine in humans and the effects on human biomarkers, following the replacement of conventional cigarettes with RELX devices.