By Apesha Bhateja, Fodors Travel
April 3, 2026- It was jarring to see white, little paper-like items stuck in the crevices of the cobblestone streets of Denmark, one of the cleanest countries in Europe. Aarhus, the coastal city on the east, is trendy and youthful, thanks to its effervescent international student community. But it was here that I was first introduced to nicotine pouches in the form of litter scattered across quaint streets, on tram tracks, and on pedestrian walkways.
Nicotine pouches are smokeless, rectangular packets that contain a high amount of nicotine. Users put them between their gums and lips, and they can go undetected, making them appealing for younger people who can be sucking on them all day without anyone realizing. In Aarhus, nicotine litter is rapidly increasing—so much so that the city has installed signs to discourage people from throwing their rubbish on the streets.
“The small white pouches can cause serious poisoning in dogs and other animals,” the campaign notes.
But Aarhus isn’t the only city facing this problem. Smokeless nicotine products are gaining momentum all over Europe, especially among the younger population, and it is quite noticeable if you happen to look down. The dumped litter is reminiscent of the cigarette butt waste problem of years prior, and it has the potential of becoming another urban environmental crisis of our time.
Nicotine Pouches
You may have seen round-shaped plastic packages of VELO or Zyn—they have been available in the U.S. since 2016. According to the CDC, sales rose from 126 million pouches in August 2019 to 808 million in March 2022.
Sweden has produced snus, a traditional oral tobacco product—brown in color—for 200 years. The product that contains tobacco and nicotine is banned in every other country of the European Union, but Sweden gained an exemption when it joined the EU. It was also a Swedish company that started producing white snus without tobacco, and now its product Zyn has become synonymous with nicotine pouch.
There are many factors contributing to its popularity: the lack of smell, no stains, no spitting, and discreet usage. And then there’s the obvious one: nicotine, which hits virtually every neurotransmitter system in the brain, explains Dr. David Kan, faculty at the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and medical advisor to Jones. It makes you feel sharper, suppresses appetite, and adds to cognitive arousal.
“There is a low barrier to entry,” he adds. They come in different flavors, making them especially attractive to the younger generation. Besides, social media promotions of these products add to their social clout.
It is increasingly being promoted as a safer alternative to smoking. Since there’s no smoke inhalation, the exposure to toxins is lower, Smoke Free Sweden says. The country has adopted a harm reduction policy, providing alternatives to cigarettes in the form of smokeless tobacco products. While smoking rates have declined to 5.4% as per a 2024 public health survey, the use of e-cigarettes and smokeless tobacco has gone up noticeably, especially amongst younger people who have found a cooler alternative to the brown snus than the older generations once used.
Smoking numbers in the U.S. have also gone down. Public health campaigns, taxation, bans on advertisement of cigarettes, and stigma on smoking may have all contributed to it. But restrictions and health initiatives on nicotine are missing. Moreover, the FDA has not approved nicotine pouches to help people quit smoking, and Dr. Kan highlights that people need cessation medication and behavioral interventions.
Nicotine pouches might be a relatively safer alternative for smokers because chemicals don’t reach the lungs, but non-smokers are also picking up the habit, which is worrying health experts.
Less Harm Doesn’t Mean No Harm
Nicotine pouches are safer than cigarettes because they don’t use combustion. But they are not completely safe. Nicotine pouches contain nicotine salt derived from tobacco leaf, and some products have higher doses than others; the pouch also makes it easy for the body to absorb it. Nicotine poses a risk to cardiovascular health and cognitive function.
“Nicotine raises the heart rate and blood pressure, and it increases strain on the heart and the blood vessels,” Dr. Sylvie Stacy, chief medical officer for Rehab.com, explains. People are also using it to lower anxiety when, in fact, nicotine worsens anxiety and disrupts sleep over time. Gum disease is another risk. With limited research, however, the impacts are not fully known. “We have a lot of research saying that cigarettes are bad for you, but we don’t have such research for nicotine as of now.”
Most importantly, nicotine is highly addictive, and this addiction is very hard to break. Teens are especially vulnerable to all addictions, including nicotine. Dr. Kan explains that the frontal lobe, which guides decision-making, planning, deliberation, and the delay of rewards, is not fully developed until age 25. Once they discover that they can change the way they feel by adding a pouch to their mouth, they can get addicted.
Ranjana Caple, MPH, Director of Federal Advocacy for the American Lung Association, emphasizes that these are not harmless lifestyle products, and early addiction can make the brain more susceptible to future addictions.
“The tobacco industry continues to market these products in ways that downplay risk and fuel that misperception, particularly among young people.”
Environmental Risk
Some things are universal. Not healthcare, but cigarette butts. The Surfrider Foundation, a non-profit that conducts volunteer-led beach cleanups primarily in the U.S., reports cigarette butts to be its top collected items from the beach—in 2025, 192,036 cigarette butts were picked up. Tobacco packaging and wraps are not as common (1,545), and the organization doesn’t categorize nicotine pouches separately in its reports.
But it does exist. Once you start noticing it, you’ll see it everywhere. Smoke Free Sweden insists that there are far more cigarette butts than nicotine pouches, but there is no denying that this litter is becoming an urban environmental problem.
A Danish study highlighted that 5.3 million of these non-biodegradable pouches end up in public spaces and nature each year. Nicotine pouches are single-use products and are made with semi-synthetic cellulose. This acts similarly to a cigarette filter, meaning the litter contributes to plastic-like pollution. After use, up to 63% of the original nicotine and other chemicals stay in the pouch. These chemicals are toxic to animals, and they can leech into the soil and water.
More research is needed on its ecological impacts, but from what has been observed, nicotine pouches are another hazard.
Travelers, Be Warned
Travelers are more likely to try things when exposed to a new culture. You may be curious about this product, which is so commonly available, but be aware that it carries risks.
Even though nicotine is addictive, you’re unlikely to develop dependence on a holiday. Dr. Stacy explains that it takes up to four weeks for people to develop dependence on nicotine. However, an introduction to smokeless tobacco might spark curiosity about the product and lead people to branch out to try different flavors. “There are underlying risks with all of them,” she says. You may not experience the harms right away, but they have adverse effects. “No one can prevent addiction from happening in an addictive product that they continue to use.”
American Airlines restricts the use of smokeless tobacco in its lounges. When contacted, United Airlines said it prohibits all smokeless tobacco products but did not clarify whether nicotine pouches are included. Travel expert Scott Keyes, founder of Going.com, calls it a grey area. Airlines are explicit about cigarettes, vapes, and tobacco products—you can carry them in carry-on and check-in baggage, but you can’t use them on the plane.
Last year, a flight attendant on a Delta flight asked a passenger to spit out their nicotine pouch because they thought it was a tobacco product. As Keyes highlights, the rules might be up to the airline’s discretion.
“Because using nicotine pouches onboard don’t appear to be expressly forbidden by U.S. federal regulation (the way smoking and vaping is), neither is it expressly permitted.” A passenger might get into trouble if they disobeyed a flight attendant who asked you to stop using it.
If you’re traveling with nicotine, remember that the U.S. has a legal age limit of 21 for all tobacco products, including nicotine. The U.S. also restricts how much tobacco you can bring back with you. Many countries have restricted the sale and use of nicotine products, including France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, and Singapore. Snus, on the other hand, is completely banned in all European Union countries except Sweden.
