Cochrane Lab Reports on Harm Reduction in Heated Tobacco Products

Jul.30.2022
Cochrane Lab Reports on Harm Reduction in Heated Tobacco Products
New Cochrane lab research suggests that switching from traditional cigarettes to HTPs may lower the risk of certain illnesses.

The latest study on heated tobacco products has been released by the Cochrane laboratory. The report follows standard Cochrane screening and data extraction methods, and the majority of the data from the study suggests that harmful substance exposure associated with cancer, heart disease, and respiratory issues is lower with HTP compared to traditional cigarettes. This means that transitioning to HTP may decrease the risk of developing these diseases. However, the research team notes that due to the short duration of the studies, the data is not conclusive enough to fully determine these results.


Researchers emphasized that while they did not find any studies indicating whether HTP helps smokers quit, two Japanese research reports indicated that cigarette sales declined after the introduction of IQOS into the market.


In fact, during a recent online seminar with Kumamaru Hiroya, the Deputy Director of Kawasaki AOI General Hospital, it was stated that while nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), such as nicotine patches, has not produced the expected results, HTP has. Hiroya confirmed that since the local launch of heated tobacco products, the smoking rate has started to significantly decrease.


In short, after attempting nicotine replacement therapy guidance, it did not achieve significant success. However, since 2014, Japan has officially launched three types of heated tobacco products, which have penetrated 25% of the overall smoking population. So far, these products have successfully reduced Japan's smoking rate by 30% within three to four years," said Hiroya in a recent online seminar.


HTP's Aerosol Particles


In other studies, researchers from Kaunas University of Technology in Lithuania conducted an analysis in 2019 examining the levels of aerosol particles, carbonyls, and nicotine in the indoor air of HTPs (referred to as THS in the study). They compared the indoor concentrations of substances such as formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, benzene, toluene, nicotine, and particulate matter 2.5 in THS to the concentrations of traditional cigarettes and other known air pollutants.


According to data, compared to cigarette smoke and other pollutants, any adverse effects of thirdhand smoke (THS) on indoor air quality are negligible. "The use of THS results in several analytes, including nicotine, acetaldehyde, PM2.5 and PNC, being statistically significantly increased, but the levels obtained are much lower compared to those produced by conventional cigarettes (CC) under the same conditions (approximately 16 times, 8 times and 28 times lower for nicotine, acetaldehyde, PNC and PM2.5, respectively).


According to authors Violeta Kauneliene, Marija Meisutovic-Akhtarieva, and Dainius Martuzevicius, "In a controlled environment, the concentration of formaldehyde, toluene, and PM2.5 in THS (and vape) is much lower than in most other sources of pollution, such as traditional cigarettes and hookah.


Click to view the original research report.


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