Skin Tone May Impact Effectiveness of Patches

Nicotine patches may be less effective in people with darker skin tones, reports Bloomberg, citing research from the University of California, Riverside.

Writing in the journal Human Genomics, the scientists noted that eumelanin, a substance associated with darker skin tones, naturally binds to nicotine. This means that nicotine could accumulate at much higher levels in Black people’s skin.

This has implications for understanding nicotine addiction as well as smoking cessation efforts, particularly those relying on nicotine patches. The patches, which people typically stick to their arms or chest, are supposed to supply a steady flow of nicotine throughout the day to help reduce cravings. But if eumelanin’s affinity for nicotine impacts that flow, it could mean people with darker skin will have a harder time quitting.

In 2022, about 30 percent of people who wanted to quit with a cessation aid used patches, according to the National Institutes of Health. Only 5 percent of Black smokers in the U.S. successfully quit cigarettes each year compared with 7.6 percent for the overall population.