Formaldehyde and antifreeze: What’s inside one of the most popular illegal vapes in Australia

One of the most popular vape brands in Australia, Alibarbar, is delivering flavoured puffs with potentially dangerous levels of nicotine and toxic contaminants, including the embalming fluid formaldehyde and a chemical used in making antifreeze.

Alibarbar vapes, which are illegal in Australia, have become widely available in hundreds of illicit tobacco shops throughout the country after the crime cartel run by gangland boss Kazem “Kaz” Hamad has forced operators to stock and sell the Chinese-made vape.

The vapes, which retail for about $35 to $50, come in flavours such as Strawberry Lychee, Watermelon Ice, California Sunset and Chupa Chups.

E-cigarettes were originally pitched by some advocates and the tobacco lobby as a potentially healthier alternative to smoking tobacco.

The testing of three Alibarbar vapes was conducted by an independent European laboratory, commissioned by the tobacco industry after being sent Alibarbar vapes obtained in Australia. The results have been reviewed by an independent expert from the University of Wollongong at the request of this masthead.

“Chemicals which are prohibited in regulated e-cigarette products in Australia were identified in two of the three e-cigarettes analysed,” said Dr Jody Moller, senior lecturer at the University of Wollongong’s School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience.

“These included banned flavouring molecules benzaldehyde and cinnamaldehyde, and, more concerningly, also diethylene glycol, which is a toxic compound with the potential to cause lung damage even at low concentrations. [Diethylene glycol] is found in antifreeze.”

Moller said formaldehyde (an embalming chemical) and acetaldehyde (used to create plastics, dyes and other synthetic products) – both carcinogens – were found in one of the sampled vapes.

“The low detected concentrations of these compounds here is interesting as these should not really be present in the original e-liquid at all,” Moller said.

“Overall, the concentration of these is quite low, but exposure levels are obviously dependent on how much you inhale and whether more of these are produced during the heating process.”

One of the most concerning results showed the vapes contained nicotine at levels well above what is considered acceptable in a legal vape product – nearly 50 per cent higher in one sample.

Two of three Alibarbar nicotine pouch products that were tested also returned overstrength findings of nicotine.

In 2018, an 18-month-old baby died in Victoria after drinking liquid nicotine used in a vaping device.

“First and foremost in the context of the death of baby J, increasing the availability of liquid nicotine products in Australia will only increase the likelihood of accidental ingestion by children, irrespective of packaging regulations,” according to an expert report tendered at the coronial inquest.

“The most effective approach to minimise accidental exposure is to limit exposure per se by maintaining a broad ban on general liquid nicotine availability.”

A police intelligence report obtained by this masthead from a recent criminal court proceeding also details the dangers posed by the chemicals contained in illicit vapes.

“E-cigarettes are also recorded as containing the following: a) Formaldehyde and acrolein, which can cause irreversible lung damage; b) propylene glycol, which is toxic to human cells,” the document said.

A 2024 Victorian parliamentary report into the vaping and illicit tobacco industry also considered “leakage” from batteries inside the single-use disposable devices to be a notable health threat.

“There is considerable risk of battery acid and other toxic chemicals leaking from e-cigarette lithium-ion batteries and circuit boards. The e‑liquid itself is also a chemical waste product,” the committee found.

The importation of vapes has been illegal since January 2024, yet the illicit market continues to thrive around the country, Products are available at hundreds of openly operating illicit shops and via online delivery.

Becky Freeman, associate professor of public health at the University of Sydney, said the failure to adequately enforce the ban had been “really frustrating” and “woeful”.

“We have a really good law in place – a compromise between not open-slather selling and not banning the product but making them available via pharmacies to adults who might actually benefit from using them to quit smoking.

“I’m not a police officer, I’m not a criminologist, but I just think it’s just sitting there in broad daylight, operating. I don’t understand – why are they waiting to make their move? I don’t understand how it can just blatantly operate like this.”

The Therapeutic Goods Administration does not test illicit brands like Alibarbar because they are illegal.

“As testing for nicotine or other controlled substances is no longer required to establish whether supply/possession of vapes is outside of pharmacy settings, the TGA no longer routinely tests seized non-therapeutic vaping goods,” a TGA spokesperson said.

“From July 1, 2024, it was legislated that lawful vapes in Australia are those notified to the TGA as meeting minimum requirements, including product standards, or on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods.”

More than 12 million illegal vapes have been seized since January 2024, according to the TGA and Australian Border Force.

A Border Force spokesperson said: “The impact of the trade in illicit tobacco and vapes is a serious issue; that’s why the ABF and the ABF-led Illicit Tobacco Taskforce works closely with international partner agencies, and our federal and state law enforcement partners, to detect and disrupt the supply chain.”

Freeman said that only the brands sold legally in pharmacies had to prove what was inside them and meet the standards set by the TGA.

“E-cigarettes are incredibly addictive and dangerous. They’re threatening to undermine the decades of success we’ve had in tobacco control. This has far-reaching public health repercussions as well as the legal issues.”

The company that manufactures Alibarbar, Shenzhen Dali Wanwei Technology Co Ltd, did not respond to a request for comment.

Alibarbar’s brand name and promotional backstory riffs on the Arabic folk tale of Ali Baba, who discovered a cache of hidden treasures in the desert.

“Each inhale is like stepping into that magical cave, uncovering something new and extraordinary,” its advertising says. “They say that with every taste of Alibarbar, it’s as if you’ve whispered your own ‘Open Sesame’ and entered a world of infinite possibilities.”

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