Can Japan’s IQOS Cause Cancer?

Does Japan's IQOS Cause Cancer?? Heated tobacco instead of burning tobacco has been touted in recent years as the safest way to smoke. Recently, the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of California, Davis, published a letter in Tobacco Control claiming that "the preclinical and clinical data submitted to the FDA by PMI indicates that exposure to IQOS may be associated with unexpected hepatotoxicity.

Scientific data submitted to the FDA requires an understanding of the design and implementation of toxicology and clinical studies, as well as careful and detailed review of the resulting data to draw accurate, science-based conclusions. Such analysis was not conducted by the authors of the letter, and therefore their conclusions are erroneous and misleading. Our toxicology studies, conducted according to international standards of good practice, found no evidence that IQOS use leads to liver toxicity.

Tobacco giant Philip Morris markets the IQOS e-cigarette, which allows tobacco sticks to be heated, posing 90% less harm than traditional cigarettes.

Scientists say these substances include carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The smoke from this cigarette still contains 84% of the nicotine found in traditional cigarettes.

Swiss researchers added that for these hazardous chemicals, "there is no safe minimum level."
According to the findings, the authors believe these products should comply with the indoor smoking bans applicable to regular cigarettes. This would prevent bystanders from inhaling the smoke.

The author, Dr. Reto Auer from the University of Bern, stated that it is still insufficient to know whether heated tobacco should be restricted in its use.

He said: "We need more research to understand the health consequences. Some of these chemicals may lead to high mortality rates among smokers.

In the study, they analyzed the chemical composition and nicotine in the smoke from Lucky Blue cigarettes.

This is in relation to the heatsticks contained within the IQOS device, which uses Marlboro tobacco.

They are designed to allow users to enjoy the taste of tobacco without the smoke or ash associated with traditional methods—eliminating a large number of toxins inhaled by traditional smokers.

The development of smoking devices aims to capture the smoke from the use of tobacco, according to research published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Dr. Auer stated: "IQOS e-cigarettes have harmful chemicals at lower concentrations than the average concentrations found in cigarettes.

"We need more research to find out whether IQOS is safer for users or bystanders."

The deputy editor of this research report, Dr. Mitchell Katz, stated that the findings are concerning.

He said the results indicate that "heat-not-burn products release carcinogens, so using these products in public spaces can harm the health of users and those around them."

A spokesperson for Philip Morris International stated: "We welcome independent research on our smoke-free products. However, we are surprised by some of the research methods and conclusions.

We encourage research institutions to study whether IQOS is carcinogenic, but we do not support unfounded slander. Current experimental conclusions indicate that the levels of these compounds in IQOS e-cigarettes are significantly lower than those found in cigarette smoke.

There are certainly scientific disagreements. We are willing to discuss these disagreements and believe that comparing methods and discussing results is the best approach.