20.500.12556/DKUM-97911 Flavourings, nicotine content, and elemental composition as indicators of regulatory compliance in nicotine pouches and heated tobacco products Nicotine pouches (NPs) and heated tobacco products using heatsticks (HSs) are relatively new alternatives to traditional smoking. Their rising popularity, especially among younger populations, and recent regulatory efforts to reduce nicotine and tobacco use, emphasize the need for their analytical assessment. In this study, the chemical composition of 26 NPs and 16 HSs available on the Slovenian market has been investigated. Non-targeted gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis showed that some HSs contained compounds not permitted under regulations, including menthol, vanillin, and ethyl vanillin. NPs, which are not yet regulated regarding flavouring additives, contained potentially harmful compounds (cinnamaldehyde, acetaldehyde, menthofurane, pulegone, D-limonene, etc.), many of which were not declared on the product labels. Tobacco-based HSs contained significantly higher total element content (up to 2155.32 µg g−1) compared to cellulose-based NPs (up to 61.21 µg g−1), with Al, Ba, Fe, Mn, Sr, and Ti being the most abundant. Nicotine content ranged from 7.6 ± 0.2 mg g−1 of NP filling to 20.0 ± 0.1 mg g−1 of NP filling in NPs and from 12.6 ± 0.1 mg g−1 of HS filling to 16.6 ± 0.1 mg g−1 of HS filling in HSs. The determined nicotine content in NPs deviated up to −52.9% from that declared by the manufacturers. These findings highlight the variability in the chemical composition of NPs and HSs, including their flavourings, nicotine content, and elemental composition, emphasizing the need for regulatory oversight and correct product labelling. nicotine heated tobacco falvourings nikotin tobak true false true Royal Society of Chemistry Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik https://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/journalissues/an#!recentarticles&adv Članek v reviji 2026-04-24 13:11:57 2026-04-24 13:11:58 2026-07-18 03:13:01 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2026 0 0 16 str. 2026 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 2026-02-06 2026-04-08 2026-04-09 661 275525635 10.1039/d6an00153j 1364-5528 d6an00153j_(1).pdf d6an00153j_(1).pdf 1 72BF52E2246A20F93941465A3B1A9D2E eba6723673fc5211dd4ecacb0bf535a39775fbf1b29c5a04e8c488f5e7775d86 42b5e64f-81c5-11f1-a6d3-00155d580e34 https://dk.um.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=208365 https://pubs.rsc.org/an/article/151/10/2962/1233946/Flavourings-nicotine-content-and-elemental 0 34613ba1-7c57-11f1-bb23-00155d580e34 https://dk.um.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=208153 Fakulteta za kemijo in kemijsko tehnologijo 0 0 0