Some e-cigarette companies are substituting nicotine with more potent, nicotine-mimicking chemicals that evade U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation, recent research shows.
Researchers at Duke and Yale University found that the amount of nicotine-mimicking chemicals, or nicotine analogs, in e-cigarette products may differ from what is on the label. Some product labels do not specify that they contain certain nicotine analogs, while some products contain fewer nicotine analogs than what is shown on the label. These nicotine analogs differ chemically from natural nicotine.
Animal studies suggest that some nicotine analogs can be more addictive and biologically harmful than standard nicotine. Federal laws prohibit the sale of nicotine-containing vaping products to those under 21. However, new nicotine analogs are not currently regulated by the FDA, and their health effects on humans remain unstudied.
“The discrepancy [between the label and the actual product] indicates that users are not receiving what they expect from these products,” co-author Sairam V. Jabba, a senior research scientist at the Duke University School of Medicine, told The Epoch Times. This inconsistency could mislead consumers, potentially jeopardizing their health.
Among the six e-cigarettes advertised to contain nicotinamide, some contained another nicotine analog despite its exclusion from the label, researchers found. The nicotine analog is 6-methylnicotine (6MN). The researchers also anal.