Nicotine Analogue Concentrations Deviate From Labels

TUESDAY, Aug. 13, 2024 (HealthDay News) — There are discrepancies between labeled and measured concentrations of nicotine analogues in electronic cigarettes and e-cigarette liquids, according to a research letter published online Aug. 7 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Hanno C. Erythropel, Ph.D., from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues quantified constituents of e-cigarette products containing nicotine analogues to assess product consistency. The analysis included nine available flavors of product 1 labeled as containing 5 percent 6-methylnicotine (6MN) and two flavors of product 2 at four concentrations of nicotinamide (0, 12, 24, and 36 mg/mL) that were purchased between November 2023 and February 2024 from three major online retailers.

The researchers found that 6MN presence was confirmed in all product 1 flavors. Both nicotinamide and 6MN were detected in product 2 samples labeled as containing nicotinamide (six of eight). No sample contained nicotine. Product 1 was labeled as containing 5 percent 6MN (50 mg/g), but the analysis showed it only contained 5.8 to 6.3 mg/g (87 to 88 percent less than labeled). In product 2, samples contained nicotinamide contents 7 to 46 percent less than as labeled. Although product 2 labels did not list 6MN as an ingredient, 6MN was detected (0.06 to 0.17 mg/g) when nicotinamide was present. Product 1 samples contained only the (S)-6MN stereoisomer, which previous research showed is more potent and addictive than the (R) form. Product 1 samples all contained the artificial sweetener neotame (0.20 to 0.86 mg/g) and the synthetic coolant 2-isopropyl-N-2,3-trimethylbutyramide (WS-23; 4.34 to 16.39 mg/g) plus various flavorants, whereas product 2 samples did not contain sweeteners or coolants.

“With e-cigarettes increasingly considered for smoking cessation, the advent of nicotine analogue-containing products with unknown health risks raises concern,” the authors write.

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