Japan Tobacco Inc. says that non-combustible T-Vapor products should be treated differently to combustible cigarettes when looking at issues surrounding indoor air quality. JT sees the reduced-risk product market as comprising several categories, one of which is the T-Vapor, or Heated Tobacco and Tobacco Infused-Vapor category.
In a note posted on its website, JT said it had conducted a study to observe the effects of T-Vapor products on indoor air quality in the designated smoking room and the non-smoking area of a restaurant in Tokyo, Japan, and that it had found:
- No significant increases in the concentration of suspended particulate matter, nicotine or other constituents monitored in the non-smoking area of the restaurant.
- That the use of T-Vapor products in the designated smoking room with door and common ventilation facilities had no effects on the indoor air quality in the non-smoking area.
The study, which was said to have used combustible cigarettes and two types of T-Vapor products, was supervised by Professor Emeritus Keiichi Arashidani, of the University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan, and carried out last month in the designated smoking room and the non-smoking area of a typical restaurant in Tokyo.
The study measured 15 air constituents, including items defined in the act on Maintenance of Sanitation in Buildings: suspended particulate matter, carbon monoxide and formaldehyde; indicators of indoor air quality: TVOC(total volatile organic compounds); VOC (volatile organic compounds): 1,3-butadiene, isoprene, benzene and toluene; carbonyls: acetaldehyde, acrolein and crotonaldehyde; marker compounds of environmental tobacco smoke: 3-ethenylpyridine and nicotine; and major ingredients of T-Vapor products: propylene glycol, glycerin.
JT said that the study results showed that the use of T-vapor products in designated smoking rooms did not affect indoor air quality in the non-smoking areas under the study conditions.
‘We believe that designated smoking rooms for T-Vapor products with door and common ventilation facility have no effects on indoor air quality in non-smoking area,’ it said.