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Irfan Rahman quoted in "Nicotine-free’ vapes and pouches promise a buzz without the downsides. Health concerns remain"

Thursday, September 18, 2025

In the past couple of years, “nicotine-like” products have hit the market in the U.S., Europe, Australia and South Korea. They look like nicotine vapes and pouches, with similar flavors and sleek designs. Some provide a nicotine-like buzz.

But there’s a crucial difference: Outside Europe, these products aren’t subject to government oversight.

Researchers warn that at least one of these products’ nicotine-like chemicals, called nicotine analogs, may be more potent and addictive than nicotine itself — and that these products are sometimes marketed in misleading ways.

Nicotine analogs are synthetic, chemical compounds that closely resemble nicotine. Some activate the same brain receptors as nicotine, with a similar buzz and addictive properties.

These compounds aren’t new; tobacco companies started researching nicotine analogs in the 1970s in anticipation of future regulations that could reduce how much nicotine would be allowed in their products, according to a study of industry documents. But the companies feared this research would trigger more regulation, so the studies were shelved. 

In 2022, the U.S. Congress acted in response to the proliferation of vapes containing synthetic nicotine. That lab-made compound has the same chemical structure and properties as nicotine extracted from tobacco, so lawmakers authorized the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to regulate products containing synthetic nicotine just as it does those containing naturally occurring nicotine. 

After that, the industry showed renewed interest in nicotine analogs. Products containing these compounds soon appeared on the market.

“These products were intentionally designed to bypass regulation,” said Sven Eric Jordt, a professor of pharmacology and cancer biology at Duke University who has studied nicotine analogs.

Though sales data is limited, research studies say the market for nicotine alternatives is growing. Some companies that produce vapes containing nicotine also produce vapes with nicotine-like ingredients.

Irfan Rahman, a professor of environmental pulmonary health and disease at the University of Rochester, analyzed research studies of 6-methyl nicotine and found that it may cause more inflammation in lung capillary cells than nicotine. 6-methyl nicotine can damage those cells, potentially contributing to lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer, he said.