• Rola Salman, Soha Talih, Rachel El-Hage, Christina Haddad, Nareg Karaoghlanian, Ahmad El-Hellani, Najat A Saliba, and Alan Shihadeh.
• Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
• Nicotine Tob. Res. 2019 Aug 19; 21 (9): 1285-1288.

IntroductionIQOS is an emerging heated tobacco product marketed by Philip Morris International (PMI). Because the tobacco in IQOS is electrically heated and not combusted, PMI claims that it generates significantly lower toxicant levels than combustible cigarettes. To date, a few independent studies have addressed IQOS toxicant emissions, and none have reported reactive oxygen species (ROS), and the form of the nicotine emitted by the device.MethodsIn this study, IQOS aerosol was generated using a custom-made puffing machine. Two puffing regimens were used: Health Canada Intense and ISO. ROS, carbonyl compounds (CCs), and total nicotine and its partitioning between free-base and protonated forms were quantified in the IQOS aerosol by fluorescence, high-performance liquid chromatography, and gas chromatography, respectively. The same toxicants were also quantified in combustible cigarette aerosols for comparison. In addition, propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin were also measured in the IQOS tobacco and aerosol.ResultsIQOS and combustible cigarettes were found to emit similar quantities of total and free-base nicotine. IQOS total ROS (6.26 ± 2.72 nmol H2O2/session) and CC emissions (472 ± 19 µg/session) were significant, but 85% and 77% lower than levels emitted by combustible cigarettes.ConclusionsIQOS emits harmful constituents that are linked to cancer, pulmonary disease, and addiction in cigarette smokers. For a given nicotine intake, inhalation exposure to ROS and CCs from IQOS is likely to be significantly less than that for combustible cigarettes.ImplicationsIQOS is PMI's new heated tobacco product. PMI claims that because IQOS heats and does not burn tobacco it generates low toxicant yields. We found that one IQOS stick can emit similar free-base and total nicotine yields as a combustible cigarette. A pack-a-day equivalent user of IQOS may experience significant inhalation exposure of ROS and CCs compared to background air. However, substituting IQOS for combustible cigarettes will likely result in far lower ROS and carbonyl inhalation exposure for a given daily nicotine intake.© The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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