The Emergence of Synthetic Nicotine

The deeming rule applies only to e-cigarettes that contain nicotine “made or derived from tobacco.” In the last few years, however, over a dozen e-cigarette brands have begun to sell products containing Synthetic Nicotine, developed in a lab without the use of tobacco plants. This product is chemically identical to the nicotine found in tobacco plants—and similarly addictive—but falls outside of the FDA’s tobacco-related authority.

Sellers of Synthetic Nicotine products claim they are an important advance, because tobacco-derived nicotine inevitably also contains some contaminants—including potentially carcinogenic ones—from tobacco plants, whereas synthetic nicotine is “pure.” For the same reason, they contend that Synthetic Nicotine products offer a “comparatively clean flavor” when used in e-liquids.

Although the technology to create Synthetic Nicotine has existed since the 1940s, the high cost of production has limited its commercial use in products intended for human consumption. Now, however, more efficient production methods seem to have been developed, and some companies are selling Synthetic Nicotine products (or, at least, products that sellers claim contain Synthetic Nicotine) at prices comparable to other e-liquids.

For example, we observed that one company sells 60 mL of its “mangolito” flavor e-juice with tobacco-derived nicotine for $24.99, and it sells the same amount of the same flavor e-juice with Synthetic Nicotine for $27.99. Moreover, although the market for products containing Synthetic Nicotine currently appears to be dominated by e-liquids, synthetic nicotine could be used as an ingredient in any product in which a seller wants to include nicotine. For example, one seller has announced plans to launch a gum that contains synthetic nicotine, and before the TCA was enacted, companies (unsuccessfully) attempted to market water that contained tobacco-derived nicotine as a dietary supplement.