Just some rambling on the subject:
I've actually spent some time in a mixing facility. So I've been on the other side of the curtain.
In general, companies that extract nicotine are difficult to find. It's not something you want to do yourself. In pure form it is obviously deadly. And can be hazardous at levels above 36mg per ml for nicotine addicts. Lower levels are hazardous for *anybody* depending on their particular constitution. I am un aware of a
juice company that uses over 100mg per ml as a mixing base.
Generally speaking, responsible vendors are sourcing their nicotine from US AND overseas vendors. A purchase of nicotine in appropriate suspension to make e-juice can be made from any number of companies.
Here's a list of *some* of the companies that vend nicotine *outside* the e-cig industry.
Nicotine (54-11-5) Suppliers Worldwide
Regarding extraction of nicotine. Brown and Williamson did it, and sold it on a business to business basis (Before being bought out in 2004). I'm fairly sure by inference that other American tobacco companies do it- it is a way to get rid of unusable tobacco/unusable parts of the tobacco plant. (Note: Some of this activity may be contracted overseas- NOT just Asia.)
Nicotine extraction is sometimes done on an order by order basis based on the needs of downstream resellers/labs/processors. In other words, the company doing the extraction resells to another company that reprocesses it for other uses, on an "as needed basis". The downstream company then processes it for it's specific use.
What most people don't realize is that the value of waste tobacco produced by tobacco companies. Nicotine extracted from it is used in NRT products, pesticides, and other forms of industry and chemical production. So there is actually quite a bit of it on the market- but it is only sold business to business. Which makes finding it on the Internet or finding a processor difficult.
So is the nicotine produced in the USA? Yes. And also in other places.
The idea behind "sourced or made in the USA" has two properties to it:
1. Supposed better purity.
2. Supporting US vendors.
I'm not sure getting foreign nicotine (say from China) has a disadvantage since those companies will disclose purity just like the US companies. But that is just my take on it- everyone has an opinion.
But yes, nicotine can be sourced in the USA on an industrial basis. But unless you ask to see the paper trail- you cannot verify it.
And sadly- this is also true. You cannot source anything 100% American in most markets given the global nature of this world.
PG/VG/ and Nicotine all have sources in the US. And flavorings can contain things from all over the world.
However, and I'll not name vendors regarding this (as a moderator, it's bad form):
I know of two vendors that have bumped nicotine back to the manufacturer for quality issues recently, and one of them is completely out of Nicotine due to this. (So a commitment to quality is costing that vendor money)
So whether it is USA made or not, the quality aspect is still going to depend on the ethics of the juice maker/vaping supplier. (My understanding is that there is a difference between "Pharmaceutical grade" and what would be used in "Pesticide".)
Unless there is a standard in place for "what's safe to vape" the country of origin has little bearing in my mind.
In closing:
The best anyone can hope for is "assembled in the USA". Even if the nicotine/PG/VG were sourced in the USA- there is no way in my mind to verify the sourcing of the ingredients used in flavorings. For instance, Flavourart is an Italian company. The ingredients for their flavors might actually be sourced in whole or in part from the USA- or the Ukraine.
