Assessing the impact of heat-not-burn and next-generation vaping products
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: Over the past few years we have witnessed the emergence of disruptive developments in tobacco use, mostly driven by the fast adoption of vaping by millions of users worldwide. In that context, a new wave of �heat-not-burn� (HNB) products is being developed by Big Tobacco, claiming significant harm reduction. These products are likely to arrive to US markets in 2017. Industry-led research describing significant reductions in HNB emission rates of harmful chemicals and reduced toxicity should be independently verified, and the potential health impacts should be evaluated. E-cigarettes continue to grow in popularity, as vaporizer technology evolves rapidly. Larger devices are now fitted with more powerful batteries in combination with atomizers that enable faster heat transfer to the liquid and vaporization of large amounts of liquid. These include �sub-ohm� atomizers and drippers, which are particularly popular with young users. Other new usage trends include the vaporization of cannabis extracts in combination with nicotine and tobacco flavors, a practice that is likely to become more popular if marijuana is legalized. This study intends to develop methods and metrics to characterize emissions from novel HNB and vaping devices and practices that have recently gained popularity in California �or are expected to do soon�, and assess potential health implications. Established machine smoking procedures that evaluate emissions from combustion cigarettes are not directly applicable to HNB and vaping devices due to their different technologies and use patterns. Laboratory methods to identify and quantify toxic emissions under realistic conditions will be developed in this study. Our hypothesis is that toxic chemicals and aerosol particles may be emitted at levels that can result in adverse health impacts to users and non-users exposed passively. The experimental work will build upon methods recently developed by our group to assess e-cigarette emissions, by expanding the studied range of products and use patterns. Mainstream and sidestream emissions will be measured together with indoor concentrations of emitted chemicals. Laboratory measurements will be carried out with state-of-the-art techniques to detect trace levels of organic compounds and aerosol particles. Samples of the aerosols will be collected on filters that will be subsequently extracted and analyzed to characterize their chemical composition. Emission rates will be normalized to nicotine content to facilitate comparisons with conventional cigarettes. Samples of mainstream and sidestream emissions from HNB products will be generated for subsequent toxicological evaluation by Prof. Prue Talbot�s group in UC Riverside using in vitro tests. The thermal decomposition of major non-DEA regulated constituents of cannabinoid extracts will be evaluated by vaporizing liquids containing these constituents in order to evaluate the formation of harmful decomposition byproducts. The proposed research has the potential to influence Federal and State policy and prevention programs addressing HNB products and e-cigarettes. Since teenagers are a population particularly at risk, our community engagement efforts will be aimed at making the research findings accessible to young potential users through presentations and/or forum discussions aimed at informing California high school teachers. We will translate results into easily-communicated materials describing the risks of vaping conventional e-liquids and cannabis extracts, and other forms of tobacco use.