Hazards caused by heated tobacco products

Abstract

The revised Health Promotion Law, which was fully enforced in April 2020, responds by implementing measures for each type and location of facilities to eliminate unwanted second-hand smoke. However, as a transitional measure, heated tobacco products (HTPs) are allowed to be used in smoking rooms where people can eat and drink. This is because HTPs have been in the Japanese market for a shorter time, there is insufficient scientific evidence regarding their health effects for smokers and second-hand smoke. The HTPs' vape mainstream smoke (aerosol) is generated by heating processed tobacco fillers with a portable device. HTPs suppress the generation of harmful chemical compounds generated from cigarettes because it does not involve combustion.

In the mainstream smoke (aerosol) from HTPs, including IQOS (launched in 2014), harmful chemical compounds from combustion are reduced by nearly 90%. On the other hand, there are unreduced harmful chemical substances. In particular, the number of harmful chemical compounds in the aerosol of HTPs has not been significantly reduced. Hence, the combined exposure of chemicals is continued as long as the HTP is used. Nicotine, an addictive substance, has been reported to have the same content in heated cigarettes and cigarettes. Smoking cessation caused by the continued use of heated cigarettes cannot be expected. The results of a health impact assessment of smokers using HTPs, showed that, the number of biomarkers of harmful chemical compounds was reduced by nearly 90% by switching from cigarettes to heated cigarettes, and some biomarkers were reduced by only about 50%. Based on the results of research to date, it has been confirmed that the use of HTPs reduces the exposure to harmful chemical compounds. However, it is considered that the improvement of health effects have not yet been confirmed.

Currently, there are many reports from the tobacco industry on the research on HTPs. It is urgently required that public health institutions and neutral researchers accumulate research reports on the health effects of the long-term use of HTPs.