The Trump administration has expanded access to nicotine products despite concerns from public health critics about youth use and addiction.

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday cleared Philip Morris-owned Zyn nicotine pouches to be marketed as less harmful than cigarettes, giving the tobacco giant a major regulatory win as the Trump administration loosens restrictions on nicotine products.

The decision, first reported by Axios, allows 20 Zyn products to carry a modified-risk claim saying that switching from cigarettes to Zyn lowers the risk of mouth cancer, heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

Zyn pouches contain nicotine but not tobacco. They are placed between a user’s gum and lip and have surged in popularity among conservatives, tech workers and others who promote them as a cleaner alternative to cigarettes and chewing tobacco or a productivity aid.

      • village604@adultswim.fanEnglish
        8·
        3 days ago

        It passed the AMES test.

        Vaping can potentially cause minute amounts of harmful chemicals if you greatly misuse the device, but the studies that found that had methodologies designed to produce harmful chemicals (like firing the coil for 90s at double the normal voltage)

        And it’s always left out that any harmful chemicals are orders of magnitude lower than in tobacco.

        • village604@adultswim.fanEnglish
          51·
          3 days ago

          To our knowledge, there are no relevant study in humans on carcinogenic effects from pure nicotine including products, such as NRT and e-cigarettes

          And

          At present, it is not possible to draw a conclusion whether nicotine itself may act as a complete carcinogen

          • Jiggle_Physics@quokk.auEnglish
            2·
            1 day ago

            and that was not what I claimed. The claim is that evidence shows it promotes cancerous development, it is not a complete carcinogen. So, you are addressing something that isn’t there.

            The claim I was addressing said it was as safe as caffeine, but evidence shows it promotes cancerous development, which is not being a carcinogen in and of its self, where as evidence is demonstrating caffeine can actually help to prevent cancer. Also, you are completely glossing over the deleterious effects on organs that aren’t cancer.

          • 5wim@infosec.pub
            1·
            2 days ago

            You said

            Nicotine by itself is about as harmful as caffeine.

            And that is either incredibly misinformed or willfully deceptive. Nicotine is harmful to the cardiovascular system profoundly more than caffeine, which is not harmful in moderation.

      • terranoid@lemmy.cafeEnglish
        31·
        3 days ago

        which is to say it’s definitely harmful for your cardiovascular system if you have a fuck ton of it, and people tend to when they vape 60mg/ml and have a cigarette’s worth in a 2 second puff.

        They really should regulate the amount of nicotine in that shit. Not sure about Zyn but I know they go way too far with Juul vapes.

        • village604@adultswim.fanEnglish
          31·
          3 days ago

          That’s not how those numbers work. The form of nicotine used in disposables (nicotine salts) is not very bioavailable, and can’t be directly compared to the nicotine content of a cigarette.

          It especially can’t be compared to the old vapes that maxed out at 18mg/ml, because they used freebase nicotine which is more bioavailable.

          The coil used and the ratio of base ingredients also has a lot to do with it. A mesh coil with max VG can give the appearance of more vapor than a liquid with higher PG, even if the nic content is the same.