Nicotine pouches, most commonly known by the brand Zyns, are a new form of taking nicotine in a smokeless way. Tobacco and nicotine smokeless products are different; tobacco products are tobacco leaves crushed up into a pouch or in a loose form. Nicotine products do not have tobacco in them, it is extracted from tobacco and processed in different ways. There is very little information on the dangers of using nicotine pouches, and that causes a problem when the product is so accessible to many people.
How Zyns and other nicotine pouches are advertised to the public is that they are healthier than smoking cigarettes and vaping. Aiden Schmidt, an active Zyns user, uses Zyns as an alternative to vaping. Schmidt says, “100% because I am not inhaling toxic chemicals and things I shouldn’t be inhaling.” There is research from Cancer Research U.K. states, “Nicotine does not cause cancer, it is what makes smoking addictive.” There are no known long-term side effects to using nicotine pouches, but there are some short-term side effects to using nicotine pouches, which are hiccups, nausea, and mouth irritation. Schmidt is using Zyns to repair his lungs from years of vaping. Why Schmidt uses Zyns instead of nicotine gum because he says that “ Zyns are cheaper.” Nicorette gum for a 170-count pack is $50, while a 15-count pack of Zyns is $5. Nicotine pouches are advertised that it does help and are way more cost-effective for a young person to try to quit smoking and or vaping, causing many young people to be drawn to nicotine pouches.
Even though there is no evidence to prove that nicotine itself is a serious harm to a person’s body compared to the harm smoking cigarettes and other forms of nicotine and tobacco products can cause, it does not mean that nicotine products are healthy or an effective way of quitting smoking. The concept of nicotine pouches is new, it came out in 2008 there has not been a significant amount of research to prove that nicotine pouches are helping people quit smoking. Also, because it is so new, it has very loose FDA laws and regulations. According to a 2022 study led by Dr.Nadja Mallock, Department of Chemical and Product Safety, German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment showed that out of 44 nicotine pouches and two non-nicotine pouches, 26 of them contained carcinogens called TSNAs, which are tobacco-specific nitrosamines, that are cancer-causing as well that 29 labels of nicotine content were missing and nicotine strength was ambiguous. To get an insight into any harm that most people do not think of when it comes to nicotine pouches, Hertha Agnew, a Nurse at Jefferson Moss-Magee Rehabilitation, answered. Agnew stated, “Even though nicotine does not cause cancer, nicotine pouches are a very new product that in a few years could show that it causes oral health problems such as gingivitis and/or tooth decay.” The FDA should crack down on nicotine regulations, requiring nicotine pouch companies to have the amount of nicotine that is in each pouch and to have stricter regulations on the processing and packaging of nicotine pouches.
Sources:
https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2022/08/05/tc-2022-057280
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/are-nicotine-pouches-bad-for-you#summary
