It is believed that tobacco companies are skirting federal regulations and guidelines by marketing e-cigarettes containing nicotine analogs, which are chemical substances structurally related to nicotine that have not yet been detected to have adverse health effects. It is already reported in a study done by Yale and Duke universities and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The study reveals that nicotine analogs like 6-methyl nicotine and nicotinamide are acknowledged by the Food and Drug Administration but are not under control. Apparently, due to this loophole, manufacturers include nicotinamide-containing products in their overall statement that their products “are not subject to FDA tobacco requirements.” An investigation into nicotine analog content revealed a vast gap between the content described on the product labels and the actual content, which presents a risk to human health.
“The fact that companies are designing new nicotine analogs and putting them in new products with unknown health and addiction risks is deeply problematic,” said Hanno Erythropel, PhD, a research scientist at the Yale School of Medicine and the study’s lead author. “Action should be taken as soon as possible to avoid potential harm from the use of these products.”
The study investigated two lines of commercially available e-cigarette and e-liquid products. For instance, the ‘SpreeBar’ disposable e-cigarettes were advertised to contain 50 mg/g of 6MN but had only around 6 mg/g, off by nearly 90 percent. One refill liquid for an e-cigarette that claimed to have nicotinamide held small amounts of 6MN, which wasn’t noted on the label.
Animal experiments have shown that 6MN could be a stronger activator of nicotinic receptors. How active nicotinamide itself is on such receptors remains to be determined. The team also detected artificial sweeteners and synthetic cooling agents in some products, which could enhance their attractiveness to non-vapers. The health impact of vaping these chemicals is unknown.
These products are designed to get around a good deal of the laws and regulations that are in place to protect people, especially children, from the harmful effects of smoking and tobacco use,” said Sven Eric Jordt, PhD, a co-senior researcher from Duke University. “We do not know what these chemicals do when they get heated up and inhaled. These are questions that should be answered before we allow products on the market.”
This study was funded by Yale’s TCORS and supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the FDA. The results reflect an important need for further scientific research into nicotine analog health effects, along with increased regulatory scrutiny.
It should, therefore, serve as a stern reminder of how far-reaching the impacts on some companies’ bottom lines can be when they endeavor to bypass public health safeguards, thereby putting consumers at risk in the debate over vaping regulation.