Researchers analyzed the chemical compounds and nicotine in smoke
from traditional cigarettes and from the new devices, which are
designed to heat disposable tobacco sticks and give users the taste
of tobacco without the smoke or ash.
The smoke released by this "heat-not-burn" cigarette had 84 percent
of the nicotine found in traditional cigarettes, researchers report
in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Heat-not-burn cigarettes also released chemicals linked to cancer
including carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
The research team was surprised to find that heat-not-burn
cigarettes “released some of these chemicals in much higher
concentrations that conventional cigarettes," said lead study author
Dr. Reto Auer of the University of Bern in Switzerland.
"We need more studies to find out about the health consequences” of
smoking heat-not-burn cigarettes, Auer said by email.
"However, there is no safe minimum limit for some of the chemicals”
in heat-not-burn cigarette smoke, Auer added, “and some of these
chemicals may contribute to the high mortality rate of smokers."
To see how heat-not-burn cigarettes compared to conventional
cigarettes in terms of chemicals released, Auer and colleagues
analyzed the smoke from Lucky Strike Blue Lights and the newer
alternative tobacco devices using a smoking device developed to
capture fumes from traditional and electronic cigarettes.
They looked at the contents of the I-Quit-Ordinary Smoking (IQOS)
product from Philip Morris International with an IQOS holder, IQOS
pocket charger, Marlboro HeatSticks regular and Heets.
While more studies are needed to determine the long-term health
effects of heat-not-burn cigarettes, their use should be restricted
until more is known about them, Auer argues.
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"Harmful chemicals were present in IQOS smoke, though in lower
concentrations, on average," Auer said. "We need to conduct more
studies to find out whether IQOS are safer for users or bystanders."
Based on their findings, the authors conclude that heated tobacco
products should fall under the same indoor smoking bans in place for
conventional cigarettes to prevent bystanders from breathing the
fumes.
That's because the new tobacco products threaten the progress that
has been made on decreasing the harms of second-hand smoke, because
existing bans may not apply to heat-not-burn cigarettes, Dr.
Mitchell Katz, deputy editor of JAMA Internal Medicine wrote in an
editor's note accompanying the study.
"There is concern that heat-not-burn tobacco will skirt local
ordinances that prevent smoking in public areas," Katz, director of
the Los Angeles County Health Agency, said by email.
"This would harm public health by eroding social norms about the use
of tobacco," Katz added. "In addition, the article demonstrates that
heat-not-burn products release carcinogens, so the use of these
products in public space would harm the health of both the user and
those around the user."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2qsh1nH JAMA Internal Medicine, online May 22,
2017.
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