”Do-it-yourself” (DIY) e-liquid mixing: users’ motivations and awareness of associated dangers – analysis of social media and online content

Introduction: Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) produce an aerosol by heating a liquid. Users can buy ready-made electronic liquids (e-liquids) or make some on their own by mixing together appropriate proportions of ingredients. The aim of this study was to determine users’ motivations for manufacturing e-liquids on their own and their awareness of the associated dangers among participants in online forums concerned with e-liquids. Material and methods: We conducted a quantitative and qualitative analysis of online forums and portals related to e-cigarettes. The data was acquired with SentiOne monitoring of respecitive sites. For the detailed analysis, 200 comments were used, all of them written in Polish, between 1 January 2020 and 30 June 2020. The comments were classified into three categories: advice, safety, and motivation for producing Do-It-Yourself (DIY) e-liquids. Results: Most of comment (56%) contained request for advice and respective recommendation on production of e-liquids. We identified four main motivations for producing e-liquids on one’s own: obtaining a particular flavour, aroma, cutting down on e-liquid costs and desire to quit traditional cigarettes. Safety-related issues were discussed in 34% of the postings. Most of them showed an awareness of certain dangers arising from the use of e-cigarettes and DIY production of e-liquids. Conclusions: While choosing the ingredients and/or their proportions for the individual e-cigarettes’ production, users were relating to another users’ experience or e-liquid calculators, which correctness is not subject to control. Ingredients required for producing e-liquids are purchased from physical shops and the online platform allegro.pl. The main motivations for producing e-liquids at home comprised cost and flavour. The intended introduction of additional taxation by Polish government may induce e-cigarette users to consider switching to cheaper alternative – DIY e-liquid production.