Huge dangers of popular vaping alternative as Gen Z 'move over to nicotine pouches'

Gen Z vapers appear to be turning their attention to nicotine pouches, a recent study has suggested.

Last month, the JAMA Network published a research paper which explored the nicotine habits of over 10,000 teenagers in 10th and 12th grade, the UK equivalent of year 11 to year 13 (upper sixth).

Experts found that the use of nicotine pouches increased by double from 2023 to 2024, as many reported joint vape use too.

What are nicotine pouches?

Action on Smoking and Health Scotland have described nicotine pouches as 'teabag-like pouches filled with a fibrous white powder infused with nicotine and other ingredients such as sweeteners and flavourings'.

Nicotine pouches are not to be confused with snus (Getty Stock Images)

"It is placed in the top lip, where it releases its nicotine and flavour," the charity said.

Although they note that 'nicotine pouches do not contain tobacco', as they are 'commonly confused with snus'.

"Snus (loose tobacco or tobacco in a pouch that is placed in the mouth similar to nicotine pouches) has a long history of use in Scandinavia," they said.

Apart from in Sweden, snus 'is banned across the EU and UK since 1992'.

An 'increase' in the use of nicotine pouches

Vapers are now turning their attention nicotine pouches according to a new study (Illustration by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Adam M. Leventhal, one of the authors of the study, told Business Insider that he was shocked by the 'increase' in the use of nicotine pouches.

At the start of the year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorised the sale of ZYN pouches, which its manufacturer brands as 'a better alternative for legal-age nicotine consumers who would otherwise continue smoking or continue using other traditional tobacco products'.

U.S. ZYN, the American brand manufactured in Owensboro, KY, has been sold in the US since 2014.

However, Leventhal claims that if you search ZYN up on TikTok, it shows young people using it and teaching others how it works.

"They can use them in school without teachers seeing them or even in front of their parents," he said.

In a statement, ZYN told LADbible: "ZYN is for adults 21+ -- period. We’re committed to responsible marketing practices focused only on adults 21+. We encourage adults 21+ who want to learn about ZYN to read the FDA's conclusions, including that their evaluation showed that, due to substantially lower amounts of harmful constituents than cigarettes, and most smokeless tobacco products, authorized ZYN products pose lower risk of cancer and other serious health conditions than such products."

Are nicotine pouches dangerous?

So tobacco is the leading preventable cause of cancer and cancer deaths, but nicotine pouches do not contain tobacco.

Although nicotine is highly addictive and lead to lung and stomach problems, an increase in blood pressure and heart rate, as well as narrowing arteries. Such symptoms can lead to a heart attack.

“We don’t know what happens, over time, when you have varying strengths of nicotine sitting in your mouth in a pouch,” Meghan Morean, PhD, a research scientist at the Yale Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science, told Yale Medicine.

“It’s possible that the risk is very minimal.

“But it’s also possible that it has an effect over time.

“There are studies looking at changes in cheek cells, but we don’t have all the information yet.

“We do know that it can irritate your gums in the short term, and some people find that nicotine gives them an upset stomach.”