Companies are inaccurately disclosing the ingredients in products containing nicotine analogs, according to researchers at Duke University and Yale University. Remarkably, in many instances the levels measured were lower than those labeled on the packaging.
Nicotine analogs are currently not subject to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s marketing authorization process and have not been extensively studied for their health effects. One chemical, known as 6-methyl nicotine, has been shown in rodent experiments to be far more potent than nicotine in targeting the brain’s nicotine receptors.
The scientists analyzed a Spree Bar e-cigarette, which is listed as containing 5 percent 6-methyl nicotine. Study results showed the actual amount of the chemical was about 88 percent less than labeled. The e-cigarettes also included an artificial sweetener that is up to 13,000 times sweeter than table sugar, and an artificial coolant that mimics menthol’s effects.
A second brand of e-cigarettes, marketed as Nixotine, Nixodine, Nixamide and Nic-Safe, contained a nicotine analog called nicotinamide, also at levels lower than the labels indicated, and combined with undisclosed amounts of 6-methyl nicotine. This brand did not include sweeteners or coolants.
The researchers speculated that companies are using nicotine analogs to bypass health regulations covering vaping products.
“These products appear to be designed to circumvent the laws and regulations in place to protect people—especially children—from the harmful effects of smoking and tobacco use,” said senior author Sven Eric Jordt in a statement. “We do not know what these chemicals do when they are heated and inhaled. These are questions that should be answered before we allow products on the market.”