Emissions, puffing topography, mouth level exposure and consumption among Japanese users of tobacco heated products

Abstract

<p><strong>Background:</strong> Tobacco heating products (THPs), which heat rather than burn tobacco, have been demonstrated by a number of studies to produce an aerosol with substantially lower levels of toxicants and reduced cytotoxicity relative to cigarette smoke. As they evolve in design and function, however, it is important to verify that variant THPs maintain sufficient equivalence to the original product if we are to leverage existing foundational datasets. Recent studies suggest that a bridging approach, in which a variant is shown to be comparable to the original product on which a large foundational dataset has been generated, might be used to ensure that the same product-related claims apply.</p><p><strong>Methods:</strong> In this study, emissions and consumer behaviour were assessed for two variants of glo<sup>TM</sup> THPs: an extensively tested glo<sup>TM</sup> type 1 (glo 2.0), and glo<sup>TM</sup> type 3 (glo hyper) in base and boost modes. Emissions testing was conducted by measuring the percentage reduction of TobReg9 toxicants, relative to a 1R6F reference cigarette.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> Consumer behaviour, including puffing topography, average daily consumption (ADC) and mouth level exposure (MLE) to NFDPM and nicotine was measured among 63 regular glo<sup>TM</sup> users in Tokyo, Japan. Emissions testing showed a substantial reduction in TobReg9 toxicants compared to the reference cigarette (95.5-97.3%), whilst there were no substantial differences in the ADC, puffing behaviour or MLE among the three THPs.</p><p><strong>Conclusions</strong>: Emissions analysis based on TobReg9 toxicants and consumer behaviour data provide evidence that the glo<sup>TM</sup> type 3 is comparable to glo<sup>TM</sup> type 1, indicating the possibility of using a bridging approach for the analysis of variant THPs based on use behaviour alone.</p>