Synthetic nicotine could be the way out for e-liquid manufacturers looking to escape federal rules on tobacco products that will apply to the vaping industry from August, the news website Wired said.

Synthetic nicotine is 13 times more expensive than the compound extracted from tobacco plants, and is marketed as “tobacco-free nicotine” by manufacturers including the US company SQN, the news site said. Next Generation Labs, a manufacturer that has targeted the vaping industry, says its tobacco-free nicotine is devoid of many impurities found in extracted nicotine. “There is no need to mask the foul flavour and aroma of the nicotine,” the company website states.