HNB products less risky

An independent scientific committee that advises UK government departments has said that there is likely to be a reduction in risk for cigarette smokers who switch to heat-not-burn (HNB) products, according to a story by Diane Caruana for the Vaping Post.
The Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) is an independent scientific committee that provides advice to the Food Standards Agency, the Department of Health and other government departments and agencies on matters concerning the toxicity of chemicals.
It reviewed the two HNB products sold in the UK, Philip Morris International’s iQOS and British American Tobacco’s iFuse.
The evidence gathered by the committee was said to have indicated that the products posed a risk that it was unable to quantify, but that this risk was lower than that posed by smoking.
“The evidence suggests that heat-not-burn products still pose a risk to users,” said professor Alan Boobis, chairman of the COT. “There is likely to be a reduction in risk for cigarette smokers who switch to heat-not-burn products but quitting entirely would be more beneficial.”
The COT said there was a reduction in risk to bystanders when comparing second hand vapor to second hand smoke, but added that the risk to unborn babies from pregnant women using HNB products was difficult to quantify.
“The committee expressed concern over the potential for non-smokers to take up these products because they are not without risk,” Boobis added.
The CEO of Action on Smoking and Health, Deborah Arnott, while generally welcoming the COT findings, said the study was incomplete because it did not include electronic cigarettes.
“The COT review did not examine the evidence on e-cigarettes, so was unable to compare the two,” she said.
“This is needed to help provide reassurance to the public and Ash recommends COT be commissioned to carry out such a comparison.”