Illicit Chinese vape companies are exploiting a legal loophole by replacing regulated nicotine with an unregulated synthetic substitute, 6-methyl nicotine (6MN), to continue selling flavored disposable vapes to children and evade Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversight, according to a former top law enforcement official.
Edgar Domenech, former Deputy Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), stated that these companies change product ingredients, creating confusion that hinders enforcement. "These Chinese organized crime groups, what they realized is if they go ahead and just change the ingredients in the packaging, then they create confusion and there is no enforcement or regulatory agency that then is responsible to address these illicit, illegal, disposable vapes," Domenech told Fox News Digital.
The substitute, also known as "NIX," is marketed under brand names like Nixodine and Metatine. Some manufacturers claim that products containing 6-methyl nicotine fall outside the FDA's jurisdiction, unlike traditional nicotine, which is a regulated addictive substance.
Domenech explained that 6-methyl nicotine is an "unknown variable" that has not been sufficiently studied for its health effects. "It's a different type of substance," he said. "Now, all of a sudden, the FDA doesn't have oversight, but it's the same product. It's a disposable vape product with flavors targeting our kids and our youth with unknown chemicals."
These companies maintain the same branding, packaging, and popular flavors, making it difficult for consumers, particularly young people, to distinguish these products from regulated vapes. "They're putting these products side by side in these big shops, because the packaging is all the same," Domenech noted. "All they've done is changed one of the ingredients in the product."
Domenech highlighted that these flavored disposable vapes, which often feature candy or fruit profiles, are specifically targeting "our youngest, most vulnerable generation" with chemicals whose long-term health consequences are unknown. "They're targeting our youth with flavors," he said. "Whether it's fruity flavors, candy-type flavors, dessert flavors. They're targeting our kids to go ahead and ingest these products with unknown consequences because we don't know what's in them to begin with."
The prevalence of youth vaping has led some schools to install sensors in bathrooms to detect device usage, with Domenech reporting incidents of children as young as 11 and 12 using these products. A study from Duke University suggested that 6-methyl nicotine might be more potent than nicotine, raising concerns about its addictive potential.
Domenech emphasized the need for widespread education among lawmakers, health professionals, parents, and schools to close regulatory gaps. "Education is paramount for us to combat this issue," he stated. "We need to educate our policymakers, we need to educate our health professionals, we need to educate our parents, the educational system to make them understand that these products are illegal, they have unknown substances that can have unknown consequences, health consequences."
He also called for clearer guidance for law enforcement at all levels to identify and seize these illicit products, describing the companies behind them as a "national security problem." "We need to have a concerted effort to educate our policymakers at the federal level but also at the state and local levels because we need boots on the ground to understand what they can do legally in seizing these products," Domenech said. "We're losing a generation of our future, our future leaders to this product."