In laboratory settings, PMI has found that IQOS tobacco vapor is less toxic than cigarette smoke.
Scientists carefully test their products before they reach the hands of adult smokers. Using in vitro tests in their laboratories, they evaluated the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of IQOS tobacco compared to the smoke of a reference cigarette designed for research purposes. Taken together, the results of these tests show that tobacco vapor in IQOS is significantly less toxic than smoke from a reference cigarette.
This is just a glimpse into what PMI does. These tests were crucial before PMI moved on to test IQOS with thousands of adult smokers who voluntarily participated in the clinical study program and ultimately allowed PMI to market IQOS products.
Clinical studies
Does the lower number and levels of harmful chemicals in tobacco vapor in IQOS also mean lower levels of these chemicals in the body? If you reduce the level of harmful chemicals in IQOS tobacco vapor, it stands to reason that switching completely to IQOS from cigarettes reduces exposure to these harmful chemicals. To prove this, PMI measured biomarkers of exposure to a number of these harmful chemicals in thousands of smokers who participated in their clinical study program (some of whom switched to IQOS while others continued to smoke their brand of cigarettes or quit smoking for the duration of the study
These studies show that when smokers switch to IQOS, their bodies absorb significantly lower levels of harmful chemicals, which in turn leads to positive changes in a number of risk markers selected due to their known association with smoking-related diseases. But it doesn’t end there.
IQOS experience.
Clinical study participants who switched to IQOS also reported that IQOS provided similar levels of satisfaction as cigarettes. This supports PMI’s view that IQOS has the potential to be an acceptable alternative for adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke.
However, and this is important: IQOS is not risk-free. The absolute best option is to quit using tobacco and nicotine completely. IQOS is not a substitute for cessation, and it provides addictive nicotine.
*Based on clinical studies, aerosol chemistry and satisfaction declaration from 600 adult consumers in Japan, 2022.
Long-term studies
Once IQOS is available on the market, research moves from being conducted in a pre-market environment to a real-world post-market environment. There, the company considers how the product is being used and by whom in order to supplement its pre-market findings and makes every effort to identify and prevent use or uptake by unintended audiences. After years of marketing in several countries, available data confirm pre-market observations, particularly in terms of the relevance of IQOS to adult smokers and the relative lack of interest in former smokers and non-smokers.
PMI is also monitoring reports of health effects now that the product is being used by millions of adult users. Long-term studies will ultimately help evaluate the potential for reducing the risk of a specific disease resulting from IQOS. Gathering data to answer this question takes time, but it is the right choice. So far, all the data seen by the PMI index points in the right direction
