New Study Compares Chemical Composition of Heated Tobacco Products, E-Cigarettes, and Traditional Cigarettes

A new study has been conducted on heated tobacco products. The study, conducted by the French Cancer Research Institute (INCa) and the French Public Health Research Institute (IResP), aimed to compare the chemical composition and toxicological effects of smoke products produced by heated tobacco, electronic cigarette vapor, and traditional cigarettes. The study is set to be published in Volume 401 of the Journal of Hazardous Materials in January 2021.

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The materials used in the experiment are as follows:

The IQOS, a heated tobacco product, is represented in the following image by the acronym HTP, which stands for heated tobacco product.

The device used for the study of electronic cigarettes includes a "Lounge" brand e-cigarette with a 2.6 ohm coil and a power output of 4.6W, as well as a box that operates with a 0.5 ohm coil at 18W and 30W, as recommended by the manufacturer based on the coil used. The equipment is represented in the table of results with the letters Lounge, Mb18W and Mb30W.

Tobacco cigarettes do not have a specific size; they are represented by the letters 3R4F.

In order to conduct the experiment, the same smoking machine (Vitrocell® VC1) was used for different types of products. The configuration was set to "strong", corresponding to 55 milliliters of suction for 2 seconds every 30 seconds. This configuration allowed one cigarette to be fully smoked in 10 puffs, and one IQOS stick to be fully smoked in 12 puffs. Regular e-cigarette users also participated in the study to test their devices under the same conditions as the smoking machine and confirm that there were "no dry hits and sufficient vapor production".

Each sample was replicated four times. Additionally, measurements were taken without samples following the recommendations outlined in the research protocol.

The study focuses on the identification and quantification of carbonyl compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). As noted by the authors, these two groups of molecules are a significant part of the main compounds released during tobacco combustion and significantly contribute to the carcinogenic effects of tobacco smoke.

Result.

Table 1

Table 1: Carbonyl concentrations in electronic cigarette (Lounge, Mb18W or Mb30W), HTP, and 3R4F cigarette aerosols, measured in ng/puff. The data represents the mean ± standard deviation of four independent measurements. The symbol "~" denotes a concentration below the limit of detection (LOD). The table illustrates the quantity of carbonyl compounds measured by the researchers.

As the authors of the study stated, "The quantification levels of 15 compounds in cigarette smoke were 2 to 15 times higher than in HTP aerosol." Formaldehyde was the only compound emitted from HTPs (at 22.1 ng/puff) that exceeded levels found in 3R4F cigarette smoke (at 10.4 ng/puff), while the amount of benzaldehyde produced by HTPs and cigarettes was nearly equal.

However, researchers have pointed out that compared to tobacco products, the measurement of all carbonyl compounds in vapor under various e-cigarette testing conditions is much lower, except for the detected formaldehyde and acrolein. This holds true for both low and high power aerosols from Modbox devices.

Scientists have stated that the amount of carbonyl compounds produced by one puff of an IQOS device (35 micrograms per puff) is 84.7% less compared to the amount produced by a single cigarette (230 micrograms per puff). These findings confirm previous research, some of which was conducted by the manufacturers of IQOS, Philip Morris International (PMI). Despite this, scientists have noted that "several harmful carbonyl compounds, such as acetaldehyde and formaldehyde, which are carcinogenic, are still detected in HTP aerosols.

Compared to IQOS, electronic cigarettes produce at least 98.5% less of these compounds. For researchers, their production is a result of the thermal decomposition of glycerol and propylene glycol in e-liquid. However, the levels of these compounds are "several times lower" than those emitted by IQOS or traditional cigarettes.

The researchers have arrived at the following conclusion:

Therefore, overall, our data indicates that the carbonyl content in the emissions of electronic cigarettes is only a small fraction of the levels that tobacco product users inhale during normal combustion temperatures.

Table 2

Table 2 presents the concentrations of PAHs in electronic cigarette (Lounge, Mb18W, or Mb30W), HTP, and 3R4F cigarette aerosols, measured in pg/puff. The data represents the average of four independent measurements, presented as mean±standard deviation. The symbol “~” indicates that the level was below the limit of detection (LOD).

The table above includes measurements of 23 different types of PAH emissions.

Researchers have indicated that the concentration of 21 compounds in the emissions of IQOS is "significantly lower" than that in cigarette smoke, ranging from 2 to 276 times lower. The concentration is even lower than that in the aerosol of electronic cigarettes, similarly to carbonyl compounds.

In short, IQOS emits 96.2% less polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) than traditional tobacco cigarettes, and 64.9% to 78.2% less PAHs than IQOS.

For researchers, these findings about e-cigarettes have been explained, particularly because the e-liquids "do not contain tobacco components containing PAH precursors.

Conclusion

In their conclusion, researchers suggest that as part of efforts to reduce the harms caused by tobacco, smokers should ideally be able to choose freely between various alternative smoking products, new tobacco products such as HTP, and e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes appear to offer smokers a more promising alternative.

However, they stated that smokers understanding and comparing the various emerging options for the health risks to determine which cessation products to use is "essential.

They noted that the heated tobacco products under study "released significantly lower amounts of nicotine, carbonyl compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons compared to combustible cigarettes.

However, they also pointed out that "HTP emissions still contain carcinogens such as formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and benzo[a]pyrene, and the levels of carbonyl compounds and PAHs are much higher than those found in e-cigarette vapor." Therefore, although IQOS aerosol shows "reduced cellular toxicity" compared to cigarette smoke, it is still "higher" than electronic cigarettes.

As a result, they came to the conclusion:

This research provides insights into the emissions and toxicology implications of heated tobacco products and e-cigarettes. It offers critical data necessary for assessing risks and suggests that IQOS may be less harmful than traditional cigarettes, but significantly more harmful than e-cigarettes.

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