This post was written by our registered toxicologist, Abbie Barrett, our regulatory affairs assistant, Toni Briscoe and our lab technician, Amelia Taylor.

If you sell e-cigarettes or other ENDS products you may be wondering what some of the issues could be with the toxicity of your liquids or devices. Is your product safe? What actually deems a product safe under the safety regulations of the country you intend to sell within? 

What is toxicology and toxicity?

Toxicology is the study of harmful effects on living organisms caused by chemical substances. Throughout our day, we are exposed to many substances (e.g pesticides, air pollution, etc) that can greatly affect our bodies, so having a way to study these effects and potentially combat them is very important.

Toxicity is the measurement of how damaging a substance is to an organism. Highly toxic substances can cause permanent damage, or even death, to organisms, as well as low toxic substances in large doses. Toxicity is a broad term that umbrellas many smaller subsections, such as cytotoxicity which studies damage on a cellular level, and genotoxicity which studies damage to genetic information.

Toxicity of e-liquids on the current market is of the utmost importance to public health, so testing must be performed to ensure these products are safe to be sold to the public.

What toxicological testing do we do at Inter Scientific?

Our regulatory toxicologist team is currently developing and implementing new toxicology services and a toxicology specific lab alongside lab technicians and regulatory assistants. The team is currently developing Ames testing , Cytotoxicity testing and are looking to create methods for the Micronucleus test and developing an in-house skin/eye irritation test. By early next year we hope to have these methods validated and available to you.

Inter Scientific also offers specific toxicology monographs for e-liquid ingredients written by our regulatory toxicologist, who is an accredited member of the British Toxicology Society.

Can toxicology testing be applied to CBD novel food products? 

CBD is one of the many cannabinoids that can be found in cannabis or hemp plants. Unlike THC and CBN, CBD is non-psychoactive, legal and has many potential health benefits. CBD is currently regulated as a novel food and cannot be used as a medicine. Despite this, CBD novel food products still require a full toxicological assessment. 

CBD products must not contain more than 0.2% THC as THC is psychoactive and may lead to harmful toxicological effects. Characterisation and testing of CBD products can be carried out to determine the CBD:THC ratio, total THC content and detect other cannabinoids.

A total genotoxicity assessment can be carried out, including Ames testing. CBD products can also be tested for pesticides, mycotoxins, residual solvents and heavy metals to ensure consumer safety. 

To learn more about how we can help you with your toxicology needs, please contact info@inter-scientific.com.

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