ATHENS - Three large Chinese vape companies are researching nicotine-like chemicals they think could serve as a substitute for nicotine in products like vapes, company officials said, but the health implications may still need "years" of investigation.

One such chemical, 6-methyl nicotine, is made in a lab, has a similar chemical structure to nicotine and is already used in some vapes in the United States. But regulators and researchers have warned it may be more potent and addictive than nicotine itself.

E-liquid manufacturers Hangsen International Group and Zinwi Biotech, as well as Smoore International ( SMORF ), a top contract manufacturer for vapes and other smoking alternatives that counts big tobacco companies among its customers, said more studies were required to determine if such chemicals were safe.

"Smoore ( SMORF ) will not rush it," the company's executive director Eve Wang told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday, adding a small team at Smoore ( SMORF ) was investigating such chemicals, known as nicotine analogs, to understand how they work and their effects.

"We should take it in the same way as medicinal products, to really understand the health impacts before we commercialise... I think that will take years of research," she said.

Yu Kang, head of Hangsen International's Research Institute, and Haley Xu, head of global communication at Zinwi Biotech, said their companies were also researching such chemicals.

"We have to be very, very careful and to carefully assess if and how we are going to use them," Kang said at the 2024 Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum (GTNF) conference in Athens, Greece.

Hangsen International was looking at around 10 nicotine analogs, including 6-methyl nicotine, she said. 

Zinwi was also doing research on over 10 analogs, Xu said, adding the company would ensure their safety before launching any nicotine analog products.

(Reporting by Emma Rumney in Athens; Editing by Ros Russell)