Tobacco-free Nicotine — New Name, Same Scheme?

Cwalina, Sam N; McConnell, Rob; Benowitz, Neal L.; Barrington‐Trimis, Jessica L.

doi:10.1056/nejmp2111159

Cited by 19 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…These findings are consistent with recent studies suggesting that ice-flavored products are often promoted in various pod-style cartridge-based disposable (eg, Puff Bar) and refillable (eg, PUFF Krush, PHIX) e-cigarette products [ 11 ]. These disposable and refillable pod-style products are among the fastest-growing segments of the e-cigarette market [ 3 , 9 , 10 ]. To reduce the appeal of e-cigarette products among youth, the US FDA took regulatory action (February 2020) to remove prefilled cartridge-based e-cigarettes in flavors other than menthol and tobacco, and issued warning letters to 10 e-cigarette companies instructing them to stop selling flavored disposable e-cigarettes by July 2020 [ 7 , 8 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In February 2020, to counteract e-cigarette use among adolescents and young adults, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) restricted the manufacture, distribution, marketing, and sale of prefilled cartridge-based e-cigarettes (eg, JUUL) in flavors other than menthol and tobacco [ 7 ]. Additionally in July 2020, the US FDA issued warning letters to 10 prominent e-cigarette manufactures, including Cool Clouds Distribution, the parent company of the popular brand Puff Bar, requesting that they remove their flavored disposable e-cigarette products because they lacked the required premarket authorization [ 8 , 9 ]. In the context of these regulations, ice hybrid–flavored products were introduced into the market [ 3 , 7 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ice Flavor–Related Discussions on Twitter: Content Analysis

Galimov¹,

Vassey²,

Galstyan³

et al. 2022

J Med Internet Res

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Background The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently restricted characterizing flavors in tobacco products. As a result, ice hybrid–flavored e-cigarettes, which combine a cooling flavor with fruit or other flavors (eg, banana ice), emerged on the market. Like menthol, ice-flavored e-cigarettes produce a cooling sensory experience. It is unclear if ice hybrid–flavored e-cigarettes should be considered characterizing flavors or menthol, limiting regulatory action. Monitoring the public’s conversations about ice-flavored e-cigarettes on Twitter may help inform the tobacco control community about these products and contribute to the US FDA policy targets in the future. Objective This study documented the themes pertaining to vaping and ice flavor–related conversations on Twitter. Our goal was to identify key conversation trends and ascertain users’ recent experiences with ice-flavored e-cigarette products. Methods Posts containing vaping-related (eg, “vape,” “ecig,” “e-juice,” or “e-cigarette”) and ice-related (ie, “Ice,” “Cool,” “Frost,” and “Arctic”) terms were collected from Twitter’s streaming application programming interface from January 1 to July 21, 2021. After removing retweets, a random sample of posts (N=2001) was selected, with 590 posts included in the content analysis. Themes were developed through an inductive approach. Theme co-occurrence was also examined. Results Many of the 590 posts were marked as (or consisted of) marketing material (n=306, 51.9%), contained positive personal testimonials (n=180, 30.5%), and mentioned disposable pods (n=117, 19.8%). Other themes had relatively low prevalence in the sample: neutral personal testimonials (n=45, 7.6%), cannabidiol products (n=41, 7%), negative personal testimonials (n=41, 7%), “official” flavor description (n=37, 6.3%), ice-flavored JUUL (n=19, 3.2%), information seeking (n=14, 2.4%), and comparison to combustible tobacco (n=10, 1.7%). The most common co-occurring themes in a single tweet were related to marketing and disposable pods (n=73, 12.4%). Conclusions Our findings offer insight into the public’s experience with and understanding of ice-flavored e-cigarette products. Ice-flavored e-cigarette products are actively marketed on Twitter, and the messages about them are positive. Public health education campaigns on the harms of flavored e-cigarettes may help to reduce positive social norms about ice-flavored products. Future studies should evaluate the relationship between exposure to personal testimonials of ice-flavored vaping products and curiosity, harm perceptions, and experimentation with these products among priority populations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ice Flavor–Related Discussions on Twitter: Content Analysis

Galimov¹,

Vassey²,

Galstyan³

et al. 2022

J Med Internet Res

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“…Moreover, since May 2016, the FDA has required all e-cigarette manufacturers and retailers to file premarket tobacco market applications (PMTAs) to gain permission from the agency to market their products [ 9 ]. The Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) oversees all products containing tobacco-derived nicotine; however, the FDA has not decided how to regulate synthetic nicotine-containing vape products; these products continue to remain unregulated [ 2 , 10 , 11 ]. In recent years, a more significant number of e-cigarette manufacturers have been using synthetic nicotine instead of tobacco-derived nicotine when producing e-cigarettes and e-liquids, all to bypass/evade FDA regulations [ 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) oversees all products containing tobacco-derived nicotine; however, the FDA has not decided how to regulate synthetic nicotine-containing vape products; these products continue to remain unregulated [ 2 , 10 , 11 ]. In recent years, a more significant number of e-cigarette manufacturers have been using synthetic nicotine instead of tobacco-derived nicotine when producing e-cigarettes and e-liquids, all to bypass/evade FDA regulations [ 10 ]. Synthetic nicotine is chemically identical to nicotine from tobacco plants, with the former being made within a lab without the need of a tobacco plant [ 12 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in Acellular Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) Generation by E-Cigarettes Containing Synthetic Nicotine and Tobacco-Derived Nicotine

Yogeswaran

Rahman

2022

Toxics

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Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) containing synthetic nicotine have yet to be classified as tobacco products; consequently, there is ambiguity over whether Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory authority can be extended to include tobacco-free nicotine (TFN) e-cigarettes. In recent years, a more significant number of e-cigarette companies have been manufacturing TFN-containing e-cigarettes and e-liquids to circumvent FDA regulations. While studies have shown that aerosols generated from tobacco-derived nicotine-containing e-cigarettes contain significant reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, no comparison studies have been conducted using TFN e-cigarettes. This study uses a single puff aerosol generator to aerosolize TFN and tobacco-derived nicotine-containing vape products and subsequently involves semi-quantifying the ROS generated by these vape products in H2O2 equivalents. We found that the differences between ROS levels generated from TFN and tobacco-derived nicotine-containing vape products vary by flavor. TFN tobacco flavored and fruit flavored products are more toxic in terms of ROS generation than menthol/ice and drink/beverage flavored products using TFN. Our study provides further insight into understanding how flavoring agents used in vape products impact ROS generation from e-cigarettes differently in TFN e-cigarettes than e-cigarettes using tobacco-derived nicotine.

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“…Synthetic nicotine, also referred to as tobacco-free nicotine (TFN), has recently emerged as an alternative to tobacco-derived nicotine (TDN). 1,2 For example, since Puff Bar's synthetic nicotine-containing vape bars entered the market in April 2021, Puff Bar has become the most popular company from which disposable e-cigarettes are purchased in the USA, cornering 51.3% of the national disposable e-cigarette market share. 3 Due to technological advancements, synthetic nicotine has been transformed from a high-cost and difficult-to-purify product to a more cost-effective form of nicotine.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stable isotope characterization of tobacco products: A determination of synthetic or natural nicotine authenticity

Han

Cui

Chen

et al. 2022

Rapid Comm Mass Spectrometry

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Rationale “Tobacco‐free” or synthetic nicotine products have appeared in some markets, increasing potential health risks and regulatory compliance challenges. Currently, there are few reliable methods for the determination of authenticity of natural and synthetic nicotine. Analytical techniques based on stable isotopes have broad application prospects in the traceability and identification of agricultural products. Methods Tobacco leaves from four main tobacco production regions in China and different types of tobacco products were extracted with n‐hexane and 5% sodium hydroxide to obtain nicotine extracts. Subsequent stable isotope mass spectrometry was performed by analyzing δ2H, δ13C, and δ15N values of nicotine. Results Firstly, results from a batch of 233 samples indicated stable isotopes were closely related to climate and geographical locations and provide a basis for a determination of the origin of tobacco leaves. In addition, the δ2H values had significant differences between natural and synthetic nicotine and the results indicate a δ2H value of −163.0‰ could be the threshold for assessing synthetic and natural nicotine. Finally, a total of 239 results further validated the δ2H value as a metric for source authentication of commercial tobacco products. Conclusions Synthetic (S)‐(−)‐nicotine could be accurately and quickly identified using the method developed by measuring δ2H values in a qualitative manner. To our knowledge, this is the first time a stable isotope mass spectrometry technique has been used for distinguishing the source of nicotine. This technique will aid in the accurate identification, labelling, and regulation of synthetic nicotine‐based tobacco products.

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Tobacco-free Nicotine — New Name, Same Scheme?

Cited by 19 publications

References 4 publications

Ice Flavor–Related Discussions on Twitter: Content Analysis

Ice Flavor–Related Discussions on Twitter: Content Analysis

Differences in Acellular Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) Generation by E-Cigarettes Containing Synthetic Nicotine and Tobacco-Derived Nicotine

Stable isotope characterization of tobacco products: A determination of synthetic or natural nicotine authenticity

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