23 March 2018
Therefore, through the development of smoke-free products, our goal is to deliver nicotine to smokers who continue smoking, and to reduce or eliminate HPHCs.
We have shown, through testing Platforms 1 and 2, that if tobacco is heated above 250 °C, similar amounts of nicotine as those found in cigarette smoke, can be released. At the same time, as the tobacco is not heated above 350 °C the levels of HPHCs generated and therefore inhaled is significantly reduced. Our studies have shown an average reduction of 90-95% in the levels of HPHCs measured in the aerosol of Platforms 1 and 2 compared to those found in the smoke of a standard research reference cigarette (3R4F).
Platforms 3 and 4 do not contain tobacco and deliver nicotine with aerosol formers, e.g.: glycerol, that are not HPHCs.
There is a wide consensus that completely switching to tobacco- or nicotine-containing products that do not burn tobacco, have the potential to present less risk of harm than continued smoking.
FDA announces comprehensive regulatory plan to shift trajectory of tobacco-related disease
Evidence review of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products 2018: executive summary
Cigarette smoke has over 6000 chemicals, with around 100 of these classified as Harmful and Potentially Harmful Constituents (HPHCs)1. The vast majority of these constituents are formed when organic material (like tobacco) is burned. Burning, or combustion, occurs at temperatures above 400 °C.
One of the compounds released from tobacco is nicotine. There is now scientific agreement2 that the toxic and carcinogenic effects of cigarette smoke are produced by HPHCs and not by nicotine. But nicotine is addictive.
[1] About Harmful and Potentially Harmful Constituents (HPHCs)
[2] Read the report of the Surgeon General.
