He hires foreign workers to mix the nicotine with other flavoured vaping liquids to keep up with the demand from smokers.

“I roughly know how much to add. We have our measurements. So far, no complaints from our buyers and they are satisfied with our product,” he told FMT, asking to remain anonymous.

He said he is aware of the dangers of unregulated nicotine usage as even a slight increase above the permissible amount could cause a rise in blood pressure, affect the heart rate, and cause narrowing of arteries, leading to a heart attack.

“But since the ingredients are not regulated, I will continue my operations,” he said, adding “new manufacturers” are mushrooming to cash in from the demand.

Chen first went into this business five years ago, and operates from a small one-storey shop lot in Jalan Klang Lama, Kuala Lumpur, and his business is thriving.

However, tobacco industry watchdogs are warning Putrajaya over the unregulated industry and its dangers of flavouring ingredients and unregulated nicotine dosage.

By regulating this sector, they say the government could potentially gain up to RM300 million in excise duty revenue in the first year, if e-liquids were included as part of the tobacco industry, currently worth RM2.27 billion annually.

Malaysian Retail Electronic Cigarette Association president Adzwan Ab Manas said currently there are about 1.12 million vapers in Malaysia.

“The worrying thing is there is zero regulation on what can or cannot be used as flavouring ingredients,” he said, warning that it could be a ticking time bomb.

“This allows irresponsible parties to use ingredients that are banned and considered dangerous in developed countries, including those in the European Union. The substances are banned because of the carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic effect,” he told FMT.

Carcinogenic substances can cause cancer, mutagenic ones cause a change in the DNA, while reprotoxins are chemical substances that interfere with male and female fertility.

Adzwan said people are switching from cigarettes to vaping for the claimed health benefits, but the unregulated industry remains unsafe.

Adzwan estimated that more than 90% of vape liquids purchased by consumers in Malaysia contain nicotine. “There is hardly a demand for non-nicotine vape liquid,” he said, adding that sales of illegal nicotine vape liquids amount to about RM2 billion every year.

Currently, Adzwan said nicotine is a scheduled poison under the Poison Act 1952 and products containing nicotine can only be sold by licensed pharmacists or doctors. The products include nicotine patches, gum and tablets designed to help smokers quit smoking.

The UK has banned ingredients that pose a risk to human health in heated or unheated form, vitamins or other additives that create an impression that tobacco products have health benefits, and prohibits the use of caffeine or taurine, other dangerous stimulant compounds associated with energy and vitality in vape products.

Zack Arifin, president of Malaysia E-Liquid Brewers Association said that is why e-liquid standards should be implemented as a mandatory requirement for the manufacturers.

Zack added every new product should be registered for approval before being sold in the open market as some of the ingredients are potentially harmful if it is above the approved standard level.

For instance, he said inhaling diacetyl, a flavouring compound used in vape, has been linked to irreversible lung damage among factory workers, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Malaysian vapers, he said, urgently need laws to protect them against dangerous chemicals in vape liquids to avoid any long-term impact on vapers.

He proposed that Putrajaya enact similar laws as the UK law, establish a list of banned ingredients, and set up a framework to reorganise the industry, involving the manufacturer, importer, distributor, wholesaler and retailer.

May 31 is World No-Tobacco Day and this year’s theme is “Commit to Quit.” It was initiated by the World Health Organization in 1987 to respond to the global tobacco crisis, diseases and deaths caused by the tobacco epidemic.