Heated Tobacco Products: A Real Change or Just Old Wine in a New Bottle?

IQOSSince it was launched in Japan, it has been wildly sought after, and there are many non-smokers who buy it.IQOSMost of them are given to relatives and friends, etc., but the reasons for this are surprisingly consistent: the taste is similar to or better than cigarettes and it is healthier than smoking.

One-sixth of the world's population is smokers, and the basic market is big enough. After IQOS became popular, many people saw business opportunities, so the entire heating and non-burning industry has entered the fast lane of development.

While the heating and non-burning industry is developing rapidly, doubts about the health of heating and non-burning products or their ability to replace and reduce harm from smoke are also constantly growing.

In 2017, as a number of heating non-burning equipment were launched and even sold in South Korea, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of Korea announced an analysis of the safety of such products. The main purpose of the study was to test whether heating non-burning equipment was as claimed as being more traditional cigarettes. Reduce harm by 90%.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the South Korean Ministry of Health found five carcinogens in heated non-combustible tobacco products sold in the local market, so it said that heated non-combustible tobacco products are no safer than traditional cigarettes.
 

Because heating does not burn tobacco products5Planting carcinogens, so it is not safer than traditional cigarettes. This kind of bandit logic will certainly not accept it.

As a result, both Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco Korea said the study was inaccurate and cited their own research showing that heated and unburned tobacco products are much safer than traditional cigarettes.

Philip Morris International conducted an exposure response study comparison experiment to compare the differences in physiological reactions between two groups of people who switched from traditional cigarettes to IQOS and continued to use them for 6 months and those who continued to use traditional cigarettes for 6 months. Experimental data shows that after 6 months, all eight biological response indicators of IQOS users have improved significantly, so health risks have been reduced after switching from cigarettes to IQOS.

Regarding the harm of heating tobacco products without burning, Xiao Dan, director of the Center for Tobacology and Smoking at China-Japan Hospital, believes that current research shows that all forms of tobacco are harmful, and even natural forms of tobacco contain carcinogens.

Regarding whether IQOS can be used as a substitute for cigarettes to quit smoking, Xiao Dan said: The World Health Organization has made it clear that this kind of heated non-burning tobacco has a short time on the market, and its possible impact has not been studied, and it cannot help conclude that it can help quit smoking.
 

Xiao Dan's view seems to be exactly the same as the logical model of the South Korean Ministry of Health, stealthily changing the concept of whether heated non-combustible tobacco products reduce harm compared with traditional cigarettes to whether heated non-combustible tobacco products are healthy and harmless.

However, South Korea's Independent Commission on Food Safety and Environment recently evaluated two heated non-combustible products, and the results were consistent with the conclusions of research experiments funded by tobacco companies.

The independent committee reviewed two products, IQOS and ifuse, and collected evidence that these products still pose risks, but the risks are much lower than traditional cigarettes, although it is currently impossible to quantify accurately. But the chairman of the committee also said quitting smoking is the best option.

IQOS is currently sold in 38 countries around the world, but as the largest smoker market, IQOS has not been allowed to enter China. Regarding whether heating e-cigarettes without burning are healthy, the State Tobacco Administration conducted identification tests on cigarette bombs.

The inspection results showed that IQOS cigarette cartridges contained characteristic ingredients of tobacco, and the fillers were made of tobacco leaves and belonged to tobacco products. The Ministry of Health pointed out that although there are many types of tobacco products and smoking methods, scientific research shows that no tobacco product is safe and harmless. No matter what kind of tobacco product it is and what method it is smoked, it will cause harm to human health.

However, this explanation only shows that tobacco products that are heated without burning are also risky, and does not mention its harm reduction compared with traditional tobacco.

Regarding the harm reduction of IQOS, Philip Morris International's research shows that the harm reduction is 90%, but all experiments are carried out in a closed environment. Therefore, some people think that the purpose of this experiment is to show the impact of heating without burning tobacco products in a real living environment., therefore, experiments need to be carried out in real life.

So, Tokyo Shihui Medical University, a top medical university, conducted a study in a real environment. The study will measure the concentrations of nicotine and TSNAs (tobacco-specific components) in the air before and after the experiment, as well as the changes in substances in participants 'urine, and then find the level of impact of nicotine and ISNAs in IQOS smoke on the population at a restaurant.

In the first set of experiments, participants ate meals without anyone using IQOS;

In the second set of experiments, one group of participants used IQOS, and another group of non-IQOS users in the same room were exposed to the IQOS usage environment.

The results showed that in both groups of experiments, no tobacco-specific nitrosamines were found in the urine of all participants. In addition, referring to the testing methods of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OHSA) and FDA, the concentration of nicotine in the air of each experimental group was measured and found that there was little change in the concentrations of PM1 and PM2.5. Therefore, Fimo concluded that IQOS smoke does not pose a hazard from second-hand smoke.

The largest market for heating without burning is currently in Japan. Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare pointed out that although more evidence is needed to prove the risk level of heating without burning tobacco, overall, non-heating tobacco products are indeed the safest alternative to traditional cigarettes.
 

At the same time, he also said that although no specific regulatory measures have been formulated, some well-known people, including the former governor of Tokyo, have also called for the harm-reducing characteristics of new cigarettes to be recognized and not to create an independent product category.

Recently, Yonhap News Agency said that the South Korean government's health department had previously found five carcinogens in new heated non-burning tobacco products sold on the local market. However, the researchers showed that the content of these carcinogens was reduced compared to traditional cigarettes, only 0.3% to 28.0% of that in traditional cigarettes.

Therefore, this conclusion is far from the attitude of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of South Korea towards heating tobacco without burning at the beginning of the article, and is inconsistent with the conclusions of many other studies. It seems that the opinion of the Ministry of Health of South Korea is increasingly consistent with the conclusion of Philip Morris International: heating and non-burning tobacco products reduce harm by 90% compared with traditional cigarettes.

Although there is no unanimous conclusion as to whether Heat-not-burn tobacco products are less harmful than traditional cigarettes, Brother Frog can conclude from the changes in body condition after some people use Heat-not-burn tobacco products for smoking and replacing cigarettes that Heat-not-burn tobacco products are less harmful than traditional cigarettes.