Heated Tobacco Products (IQOS®) versus Conventional Cigarette Smoking: a comparison of 210Po and 210Pb content in the mainstream smoke

Abstract

210Po is a radioactive component of conventional cigarette tobacco smoke and is a recognized carcinogen. Despite the expanding market of heated tobacco products, no data are available on the activity of 210Po in the smoke of IQOS Heets® cigarette. We determined the 210Po activity in the mainstream smoke of thirteen cigarette brands available on the Swiss market using a smoking machine and compared the results to the 210Po activity measured in the mainstream smoke of the IQOS® system. In addition, we measured the 210Po and 210Pb loss on heating after uniform heating from 50 to 600°C for several cigarette brands and the Heets® cigarettes. 13.6 ± 4.1% of 210Po activity was found in the mainstream smoke in conventional cigarette smoking (7% for 210Pb). This dropped to 1.8 ± 0.3% in the mainstream smoke of IQOS Heets®. Conversely, when the tobacco was heated uniformly at 330°C, a loss of 210Po of more than 80% was observed for all type of cigarettes. Apparently, IQOS® significantly reduced the 210Po and 210Pb activities in the mainstream smoke. However, our results show that only 15% of the Heets® tobacco reaches 330°C with IQOS®. While IQOS® reduces the 210Po and 210Pb activities in the mainstream smoke compared to conventional cigarettes, it only heats a marginal fraction of the tobacco present in the Heets® cigarette. Because smoking is an addiction (mostly due to nicotine), IQOS® could possibly deliver an unsatisfactory dose of nicotine to a Heets® cigarette smoker, as most of the tobacco is left unaltered.