A new study has revealed what appears to be an attempt to circumvent public health regulations governing e-cigarette products. The study showed that some tobacco companies have begun replacing nicotine in e-cigarettes with chemicals with similar properties, but unknown health effects.
The study authors from Duke and Yale Universities in the United States found in a study recently published in the journal JAMA that the amounts of these chemicals, known as nicotine analogues, are not accurately disclosed on packaging.
Unknown isotopes and health risks
Nicotine analogues are compounds that are structurally similar to nicotine, and include nicotine derivatives and its metabolites (its breakdown products). Experiments in mice have shown that one of these chemicals, known as 6-methylnicotine, is much more effective than nicotine at targeting nicotinic receptors in the brain and more toxic than nicotine.
“Nicotine-containing products are subject to federal laws that prohibit their sale to persons under the age of 21,” said study co-author Dr. Sairam V. Gaba, a veterinarian, PhD, and senior research scientist at Duke University School of Medicine.
A study published nearly 20 years ago warned that tobacco manufacturers should be required to declare all additives used in tobacco products. Regulators should be aware that there is a distinct possibility that the industry has found ways to circumvent future nicotine regulation by using nicotine analogues, which it appears to have done.
“Nicotine analogues are not currently under FDA review and have not been studied for their health effects,” Dr. Gaba added, according to EurekAlert. “Our analysis of some of these nicotine analogue products sold in the United States has shown significant and disturbing inaccuracies in the ingredients of these products, which they claim to contain what they do not. Furthermore, it is likely that manufacturers are trying to avoid FDA regulation of tobacco products.”
Variation in quantity and toxicity
Gaba and colleagues, including co-author Dr. Sven-Erik Jordt, associate professor of anesthesiology at Duke University School of Medicine, analyzed an e-cigarette product that came in at least nine flavors and was reported to contain 5% 6-methylnicotine.
The study results showed that the actual amount of the chemical was about 88% less than what was stated on the label. The e-cigarettes also contained an artificial sweetener that was up to 13,000 times sweeter than table sugar, and an artificial coolant that mimicked the effects of menthol.
A second brand of e-cigarette contained a nicotine analogue called nicotinamide, also at lower levels than stated on the labels, and with undisclosed amounts of 6-methylnicotine. This brand did not include sweeteners or refrigerants.
“These products appear designed to circumvent laws and regulations that are in place to protect people, especially children, from the harmful effects of smoking and tobacco use,” Jordt said, according to EurekAlert. “We don’t know what these chemicals do when heated and inhaled. These are questions that need to be answered before the products are allowed to go on the market.”