Article | Indoor air quality | May 19, 2016

      How do we measure vapor impact on Indoor Air Quality?

      by Dinorah Castillo MSc

      OPEN THE FILE

      When using Heat-not-burn technology like the one used by the Tobacco Heating System (THS), tobacco is not burnt, but heated.  Due to our extensive research, we know that many of the chemical reactions that take place when lighting up a cigarette (combustion) do not occur and instead of smoke, a tobacco vapor is produced. In this vapor there are significantly lower levels of harmful and potentially harmful chemicals (HPHCs) than those measured in cigarette smoke.

      In order for scientists to know whether a new product does or does not impact the quality of the air in a specific environment, environmentally controlled rooms are used. Studies using this type of rooms have been widely used over the years in multiple industries to assess indoor air quality such as in building construction, the automotive and the tobacco industry.

      For the particular case of PMI’s THS, scientists built an environmentally controlled room in order to analyze the vapor produced and the levels of harmful and potentially harmful chemicals present in the air when this device is used. However, before conducting such assessments the analytical methods used need to be validated and proven to be fit for the intended purposes. This is important since the methods adapted for these studies were used to measure HPHCs in controlled environments where cigarettes are used. Since the levels of HPHCs are much lower in the tobacco vapor generated by THS, the methods needed to be validated for measuring such low quantities.

      After analyzing the data obtained from the experiment “Validation of selected analytical methods using accuracy the profiles to assess the impact of a Tobacco Heating System on indoor air quality”, scientists were able to determine that the methods were fit for analyzing the impact of THS’ vapor on air quality.

      In this infographic you will be able to understand the different aspects needed to create an adequate controlled room and what is needed to analyze the data obtained.  

      Reference Article:

      Validation of selected analytical methods to assess the impact of a Tobacco Heating System on indoor air quality

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