'Nicotine-free' vapes raise concerns as tests find nicotine, analogues

A shop employee in Seoul organizes cartridges for synthetic nicotine vapes, Feb. 3. Newsis

Vapes purporting to contain zero nicotine are raising public and government concerns as some of the products have been confirmed to contain lethal substances while remaining largely outside regulatory oversight.

The controversial market emerged after the country’s revised Tobacco Business Act, which took effect on April 24, defined synthetic nicotine vapes as tobacco product and enforced taxation that more than doubled their retail prices. It led to a market introduction of vapes not yet fully regulated by the government such as products marketed as nicotine-free or containing nicotine analogues.

Consumers unwilling to pay the higher prices but still wanting to smoke quickly responded to the alternatives, with the trend spreading among teenagers as well.

Ninety-nine percent of vapes marketed as containing nicotine analogue or zero nicotine are imported from China, with demand rising rapidly. According to Rep. Park Soo-young of main opposition People Power Party, Korea’s import of “nicotine-free” vapes increased to 164 tons last year from 95 tons in 2022. Imports recorded 68 tons in March alone, the highest monthly figure in the past five years.

Nicotine analogue imports, according to the Korea Customs Service, also posted 15 tons from last October to May, with 13 tons this year. The surge came as the market anticipated the enforcement of the revised Tobacco Business Act and the steep price hikes it would bring. A 30-milliliter cartridge that previously cost less than 20,000 won ($14) now costs more than 40,000 won and, after a two-year grace period, is expected to exceed 70,000 won.

The popularity of these vapes are problematic as analyses have shown that some are not what they claim to be. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said in June it has tested 105 different types of popular “nicotine-free” vapes in the market and found 13 products contained an average of 8.17 milligram per gram (mg/g) of nicotine and 12 products 1.77 mg/g of 6-methyl nicotine, a type of nicotine analogue.

Electronic posters inside a vape store in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province, advertise a cartridge of grape-flavored vape juice, left, and the store's 24-hour accessibility and delivery to customers, July 20. The poster on the left indicates that the product was manufactured before the revised Tobacco Business Act took effect April 24, thereby remaining legally classified as a nontobacco product and not subject to the newly imposed tobacco taxes. Korea Times photo by Ko Dong-hwan

“Recent research showed 6-methylnicotine exhibits effects similar to nicotine and is cytotoxic,” the ministry said. “However, it remains an unverified chemical substance for which sufficient toxicity assessments have not yet been conducted domestically and internationally.”

Last December, President Lee Jae Myung mentioned the controversial vapes during a Cabinet meeting in Sejong, during which synthetic nicotine vapes were adjusted to become a tobacco product. In the meeting, he criticized the country’s legal loophole against such vapes, asking, "Is it acceptable for citizens to vape alternative substances that function like nicotine without any safety checks?”

An official from Philip Morris Korea, a major cigarette maker, said that even months after the president expressed the concern, no practical government measures to control nicotine analogues came out.

“Nicotine analogues or nicotine-free products are companies' strategies to tempt consumers while preemptively evading regulations on synthetic nicotine. Since it hasn’t been legally classified as nicotine, there are no regulations. And consumers feel no remorse because the products are labeled nicotine-free,” the official said.

The government has begun counteracting against the controversial vapes. While the drug safety ministry is at the helm of confirming toxicity of the vapes, the Ministry of Finance and Economy is inspecting domestic tobacco businesses that sell without a license to either manufacture, import or sell the products. The Ministry of Education, for its part, plans to inform students and parents about the vapes' health hazards and their false information.

“We will initiate a toxicity test on these vape alternatives. Based on the result, all related ministries will jointly announce a set of measures within this year,” a drug safety ministry official said.

“There are right now so many vapes that claim they are clean. To check how seriously the market has grown, we have executed a small-scale test on those 105 vapes. That test proved our concerns.”