Nicotine salt

Last updated
Nicotine salt
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)
ChEMBL
EC Number
  • sulfate:200-606-7
PubChem CID
RTECS number
  • sulfate:QS9625000
UNII
UN number 1658
  • benzoate:CN1CCC[C@H]1C2=CN=CC=C2.C1=CC=C(C=C1)C(=O)O
  • sulfate:CN1CCC[C@H]1C2=CN=CC=C2.CN1CCC[C@H]1C2=CN=CC=C2.OS(=O)(=O)O
  • hydrochloride:CN1CCC[C@H]1C2=CN=CC=C2.Cl
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).

Nicotine salts are salts formed from nicotine and an acid. [1] They are found naturally in tobacco leaves. [2] Various acids can be used, leading to different conjugate bases paired with the ammonium form of nicotine.

Contents

Research

Research on nicotine salts is limited. [3] Possible health risks of persistent inhalation of high levels of nicotine salts are not known. [3] "Juul products use nicotine salts, which can lead to much more available nicotine," Principal Deputy Director Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated in September 2019. [4] She also stated that the nicotine salts "cross the blood brain barrier and lead to potentially more effect on the developing brain in adolescents." [4]

Types

A nicotine base and a weak acid such as benzoic acid or levulinic acid is used to form a nicotine salt. [1] Across a sample of 23 nicotine salts available for public purchase, the three most common acids used in the formation of nicotine salts were lactic acid, benzoic acid and levulinic acid. [5] Benzoic acid is the most used acid to create a nicotine salt. [6] Nicotine pyruvate is another form of nicotine salt. [7] A chemical reaction with a pyruvic acid is used to aerosolize nicotine. [8]

Level and rate of delivery

A free-base nicotine solution with an acid reduces the pH, which makes it possible to provide higher levels of nicotine without irritating the throat. [9] Nicotine salts are thought to amplify the level and rate of nicotine delivery to the user. The speed of nicotine salts uptake into the body with the use of electronic cigarettes is close to the speed of nicotine uptake from traditional cigarettes. [10] Traditional cigarettes provide high levels of nicotine, but with the taste of tobacco and paper smoke which many may find undesirable. Pod mods, however, can provide high levels of nicotine without the negative smoking experience.

Nicotine salts are less harsh and less bitter and as a consequence e-liquids that contain nicotine salts are more tolerable even with high nicotine concentrations. Nicotine salts in aerosol form do not generally generate the sensation of irritation in the chest and lungs that regular cigarettes do. [10] Protonated nicotine salt is easier for less experienced users to inhale. This smoother experience of nicotine delivery into the body makes nicotine salts popular amongst those new to vaping e-liquids and those seeking a nicotine replacement therapy that is more commensurate to smoking traditional cigarettes.

As of 2023, many manufacturers in the United Kingdom have been observed to have shifted to nicotine salt-only disposable pods, after previously offering a majority of products in conventional liquids containing freebase nicotine. This is widely seen as being due to nicotine salt's more addictive nature. [11] Nicotine salts' more addictive nature has also seen an increase in the uptake of vaping by children. [12]

Brands

The latest generation of e-cigarettes, "pod products," such as Juul, have the highest nicotine content (50 mg/mL), in protonated salt, rather than the free-base nicotine form found in earlier generations. [13] In June 2015, Juul introduced a pod mod device containing nicotine salt. [14] British American Tobacco stated that they have been using nicotine salts in their US Vuse e-liquid brand since 2012. [15]

There has been a proliferation of pod-based products with high nicotine concentration, triggered by Juul's financial success. [6] As of September 2018, there were no less than 39 similar Juul devices as well as 15 Juul-compatible pods being offered. [6] Tested show that the pod mods Juul, Bo, Phix, and Suorin contain nicotine salts in a solution with propylene glycol and glycerin. [3]

Nicotine Salt vaping devices are also available in disposable form, multiple brands exist and since their popularity is rising, many new brands of disposable nicotine salt devices are coming to the market. In the United Kingdom, the maximum nicotine concentration allowed by law is 20mg/ml. [16]

Marketing

Advertisements state nicotine salt liquids contain 2 to 10 times more nicotine than those found in the majority of regular e-cigarette products. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicotine</span> Chemical stimulant produced by some plants

Nicotine is a naturally produced alkaloid in the nightshade family of plants and is widely used recreationally as a stimulant and anxiolytic. As a pharmaceutical drug, it is used for smoking cessation to relieve withdrawal symptoms. Nicotine acts as a receptor agonist at most nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), except at two nicotinic receptor subunits where it acts as a receptor antagonist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaporizer (inhalation device)</span> Device to vaporize substances for inhalation

A vaporizer or vaporiser, colloquially known as a vape, is a device used to vaporize substances for inhalation. Plant substances can be used, commonly cannabis, tobacco, or other herbs or blends of essential oil. However, they are most commonly filled with a combination propylene glycol, glycerin, and drugs such as nicotine or tetrahydrocannabinol as a liquid solution.


Tobacco harm reduction (THR) is a public health strategy to lower the health risks to individuals and wider society associated with using tobacco products. It is an example of the concept of harm reduction, a strategy for dealing with the use of drugs. Tobacco smoking is widely acknowledged as a leading cause of illness and death, and reducing smoking is vital to public health.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electronic cigarette</span> Device that vaporizes a liquid nicotine solution for inhalation

An electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) or vape is a device that simulates tobacco smoking. It consists of an atomizer, a power source such as a battery, and a container such as a cartridge or tank filled with liquid. Instead of smoke, the user inhales vapor. As such, using an e-cigarette is often called "vaping". The atomizer is a heating element that vaporizes a liquid solution called e-liquid, which quickly cools into an aerosol of tiny droplets, vapor and air. E-cigarettes are activated by taking a puff or pressing a button. Some look like traditional cigarettes, and most kinds are reusable. The vapor mainly comprises propylene glycol and/or glycerin, usually with nicotine and flavoring. Its exact composition varies, and depends on several things including user behavior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicotine dependence</span> Chronic disease

Nicotine dependence is a state of dependence upon nicotine. Nicotine dependence is a chronic, relapsing disease defined as a compulsive craving to use the drug, despite social consequences, loss of control over drug intake, and emergence of withdrawal symptoms. Tolerance is another component of drug dependence. Nicotine dependence develops over time as a person continues to use nicotine. The most commonly used tobacco product is cigarettes, but all forms of tobacco use and e-cigarette use can cause dependence. Nicotine dependence is a serious public health problem because it leads to continued tobacco use, which is one of the leading preventable causes of death worldwide, causing more than 8 million deaths per year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flavored tobacco</span> Tobacco product with added flavorings

Flavored tobacco products — tobacco products with added flavorings — include types of cigarettes, cigarillos and cigars, hookahs and hookah tobacco, various types of smokeless tobacco, and more recently electronic cigarettes. Flavored tobacco products are especially popular with youth and have therefore become targets of regulation in several countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regulation of electronic cigarettes</span> International regulations

Regulation of electronic cigarettes varies across countries and states, ranging from no regulation to banning them entirely. As of 2015, around two thirds of major nations have regulated e-cigarettes in some way.

Pax Labs is an American electronic vaporizer company founded in 2007 that markets the Pax vaporizers. The company developed the Juul e-cigarette. Juul Labs was spun out as a separate company in 2017.

blu eCigs Electronic cigarette brand

blu is an electronic cigarette brand, produced by Fontem Ventures and owned by Imperial Brands. The brand blu sells various types of rechargeable and disposable e-cigarettes with a wide selection of flavored and unflavored liquids. Its products are available in many countries and each market offers different types of products suited to public demand and opportunities. The global headquarters of blu is located in Amsterdam. Local offices are active around the world to service all markets which sell the brand.

The use of electronic cigarettes (vaping) carries health risks. The risk depends on the fluid and varies according to design and user behavior. In the United Kingdom, vaping is considered by some to be around 95% less harmful than tobacco after a controversial landmark review by Public Health England.

The scientific community in the United States and Europe are primarily concerned with the possible effect of electronic cigarette use on public health. There is concern among public health experts that e-cigarettes could renormalize smoking, weaken measures to control tobacco, and serve as a gateway for smoking among youth. The public health community is divided over whether to support e-cigarettes, because their safety and efficacy for quitting smoking is unclear. Many in the public health community acknowledge the potential for their quitting smoking and decreasing harm benefits, but there remains a concern over their long-term safety and potential for a new era of users to get addicted to nicotine and then tobacco. There is concern among tobacco control academics and advocates that prevalent universal vaping "will bring its own distinct but as yet unknown health risks in the same way tobacco smoking did, as a result of chronic exposure", among other things.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Construction of electronic cigarettes</span> Engineering and chemistry of e-cigarettes

An electronic cigarette is a handheld battery-powered vaporizer that simulates smoking, but without tobacco combustion. E-cigarette components include a mouthpiece, a cartridge, a heating element/atomizer, a microprocessor, a battery, and some of them have an LED light on the end. An atomizer consists of a small heating element, or coil, that vaporizes e-liquid and a wicking material that draws liquid onto the coil. When the user inhales a flow sensor activates the heating element that atomizes the liquid solution; most devices are manually activated by a push-button. The e-liquid reaches a temperature of roughly 100–250 °C (212–482 °F) within a chamber to create an aerosolized vapor. The user inhales an aerosol, which is commonly but inaccurately called vapor, rather than cigarette smoke. Vaping is different from smoking, but there are some similarities, including the hand-to-mouth action of smoking and an aerosol that looks like cigarette smoke. The aerosol provides a flavor and feel similar to tobacco smoking. There is a learning curve to use e-cigarettes properly. E-cigarettes are cigarette-shaped, and there are many other variations. E-cigarettes that resemble pens or USB memory sticks are also sold that may be used unobtrusively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Composition of electronic cigarette aerosol</span>

The chemical composition of the electronic cigarette aerosol varies across and within manufacturers. Limited data exists regarding their chemistry. However, researchers at Johns Hopkins University analyzed the vape clouds of popular brands such as Juul and Vuse, and found "nearly 2,000 chemicals, the vast majority of which are unidentified."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vape shop</span> Shop selling vaping products

A vape shop is a retail outlet specializing in the selling of vaping products, though shops selling derived psychoactive cannabis products have increased since the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill. There are also online vape shops. A vape shop offers a range of vaping products. The majority of vape shops do not sell vaping products that are from "Big Tobacco" companies. In 2013, online search engine searches on vape shops surpassed searches on e-cigarettes. Around a third of all sales of vaping products take place in vape shops. Big Tobacco believes the independent vape market is a threat to their interests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juul</span> American electronic cigarette manufacturer

Juul Labs, Inc. is an American electronic cigarette company that spun off from Pax Labs in 2017. Juul Labs makes the Juul electronic cigarette, which atomizes nicotine salts derived from tobacco supplied by one-time use cartridges.

NJOY, LLC is an American company that manufactures and distributes electronic cigarettes and vaping products. In 2017, NJOY acquired the assets of NJOY, Inc., one of the first companies to sell e-cigarettes. On June 1, 2023, the company was acquired by Altria Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pod mod</span> Type of electronic cigarette

Pod mods are a type of electronic cigarette used to vape nicotine through a mouthpiece connected to the body of the device by magnets. These devices are a newer generation of e-cigarettes that are often marketed to a younger crowd that do not wish to attract attention gained through regular e-cigarettes or traditional tobacco-burning cigarettes. Pod mods contain a disposable cartridge and coils.

Exposure to nicotine, from conventional or electronic cigarettes during adolescence can impair the developing human brain. E-cigarette use is recognized as a substantial threat to adolescent behavioral health. The use of tobacco products, no matter what type, is almost always started and established during adolescence when the developing brain is most vulnerable to nicotine addiction. Young people's brains build synapses faster than adult brains. Because addiction is a form of learning, adolescents can get addicted more easily than adults. The nicotine in e-cigarettes can also prime the adolescent brain for addiction to other drugs such as cocaine. Exposure to nicotine and its great risk of developing an addiction, are areas of significant concern.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019–2020 vaping lung illness outbreak</span> Outbreak of vaping-associated pulmonary injury

An outbreak of e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury (EVALI) started in 2019 among users of illegal, unregulated cannabis vaping products, almost exclusively in the United States. The first cases of this particular outbreak were identified in Illinois and Wisconsin in April 2019; as of 18 February 2020, a total of 2,807 hospitalized cases, including 68 deaths, have been confirmed. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), "Vitamin E acetate is strongly linked to the EVALI outbreak...Evidence is not sufficient to rule out the contribution of other chemicals of concern, including chemicals in either THC or non-THC products, in some of the reported EVALI cases".

Electronic cigarettes are marketed to smoking and non-smoking men, women, and children as being safer than cigarettes. In the 2010s, large tobacco businesses accelerated their marketing spending on vape products, similar to the strategies traditional cigarette companies used in the 1950s and 1960s.

References

  1. 1 2 Voos N, Goniewicz ML, Eissenberg T (November 2019). "What is the nicotine delivery profile of electronic cigarettes?". Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery. 16 (11): 1193–1203. doi:10.1080/17425247.2019.1665647. PMC   6814574 . PMID   31495244.
  2. ↑ Fraga JA (November 2019). "The Dangers of Juuling". National Center for Health Research.
  3. 1 2 3 Goniewicz ML, Boykan R, Messina CR, Eliscu A, Tolentino J (November 2019). "High exposure to nicotine among adolescents who use Juul and other vape pod systems ('pods')". Tobacco Control. 28 (6): 676–677. doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2018-054565. PMC   6453732 . PMID   30194085.
  4. 1 2 LaVito, Angelica; Shama, Elijah (24 September 2019). "CDC warns of dangers of nicotine salts used by vaping giant Juul in e-cigarettes". CNBC.
  5. ↑ Harvanko AM, Havel CM, Jacob P, Benowitz NL (June 2020). "Characterization of Nicotine Salts in 23 Electronic Cigarette Refill Liquids". Nicotine & Tobacco Research. 22 (7): 1239–1243. doi:10.1093/ntr/ntz232. PMC   7291795 . PMID   31821492.
  6. 1 2 3 Jackler RK, Ramamurthi D (November 2019). "Nicotine arms race: JUUL and the high-nicotine product market". Tobacco Control. 28 (6): 623–628. doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2018-054796. PMID   30733312. S2CID   73433596.
  7. ↑ "New smoking cessation therapy proves promising". American Association for the Advancement of Science. 27 February 2010.
  8. ↑ Etter JF (February 2015). "E-cigarettes: methodological and ideological issues and research priorities". BMC Medicine. 13 (1): 32. doi: 10.1186/s12916-014-0264-5 . PMC   4330977 . PMID   25856794.
  9. ↑ Jenssen BP, Wilson KM (April 2019). "What is new in electronic-cigarettes research?". Current Opinion in Pediatrics. 31 (2): 262–266. doi:10.1097/MOP.0000000000000741. PMC   6644064 . PMID   30762705.
  10. 1 2 "JUUL®: An Electronic Cigarette You Should Know About". American Academy of Family Physicians. 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-09-30. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
  11. ↑ Leventhal, A.M. et al. (2021) ‘Effect of Exposure to e-Cigarettes With Salt vs Free-Base Nicotine on the Appeal and Sensory Experience of Vaping: A Randomized Clinical Trial’, JAMA network open, 4(1), pp. e2032757–e2032757. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.32757.
  12. ↑ Hammond, D. et al. (2019) ‘Prevalence of vaping and smoking among adolescents in Canada, England, and the United States: repeat national cross sectional surveys’, BMJ (Online), 365, pp. l2219–l2219. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l2219.
  13. ↑ Jenssen BP, Boykan R (February 2019). "Electronic Cigarettes and Youth in the United States: A Call to Action (at the Local, National and Global Levels)". Children. 6 (2): 30. doi: 10.3390/children6020030 . PMC   6406299 . PMID   30791645. Creative Commons by small.svg  This article incorporates text by Brian P. Jenssen and Rachel Boykan available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
  14. ↑ McKelvey K, Baiocchi M, Halpern-Felsher B (October 2018). "Adolescents' and Young Adults' Use and Perceptions of Pod-Based Electronic Cigarettes". JAMA Network Open. 1 (6): e183535. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.3535. PMC   6324423 . PMID   30646249.
  15. ↑ Rachel Becker (21 November 2018). "Juul's nicotine salts are dominating the market — and other companies want in". The Verge .
  16. ↑ "The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  17. ↑ Barrington-Trimis JL, Leventhal AM (September 2018). "Adolescents' Use of "Pod Mod" E-Cigarettes - Urgent Concerns". The New England Journal of Medicine. 379 (12): 1099–1102. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp1805758 . PMC   7489756 . PMID   30134127.
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