Category: Science

BAT Publishes Review of Vaping Science

Photo: BAT
BAT has published a comprehensive review of the scientific evidence for vaping products, their potential health effects and their role in tobacco harm reduction.
The review shows that, over the past decade, the number of people who incorrectly believe vaping is as harmful or more harmful than smoking conventional cigarettes has risen in the U.K., Europe and the U.S. This is despite several scientific reviews published in the same period showing that vaping products manufactured in accordance with quality standards present less risk to health than combustible cigarettes.
According to population modelling studies cited in the review, a significant reduction in premature deaths could be achieved if current smokers switched exclusively to vaping rather than continuing to smoke. These modelling studies use population data and simulations to project the health-related outcomes associated with the long-term risks of smoking versus vapor use over time.
David O’Reilly, director of scientific research at BAT, said the paper is a comprehensive summary of more than 300 peer-reviewed scientific papers and other evidence published by an estimated 50 institutions over the past decade.

The scientific evidence is clear—but consumer misperceptions remain.
David O’Reilly, director of scientific research, BAT
“The scientific evidence is clear—but consumer misperceptions remain. In England and the United States, only one in three adults is aware that there is scientific evidence available, including from leading public health authorities, that supports the conclusion that vaping is less harmful than smoking,” O’Reilly said.
“The reality is that many leading public health authorities have reported that vaping is less harmful than smoking and that this harm reduction potential can be maximized if those smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke switch exclusively to using vapor products.”
The review highlights that vaping products can effectively compete with combustible cigarettes by providing nicotine and the sensorial enjoyment sought by smokers, according to a BAT press note.
June 1, 2021
Blind Test: Smokers Unable to Detect Brands

Photo: fotofabrika
When properly blinded, smokers are unable to tell apart brands of cigarettes, according to a study by the Sharik Association for Health Research and Alfaisal University in Saudi Arabia that was published in JMIR Formative Research.
In 2019, Saudi Arabia implemented a law requiring cigarette manufacturers to sell their products in generic, unbranded packaging. Following the measure, smokers started complaining to the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) about a perceived difference in cigarette quality. These complaints persisted for more than 90 days, starting in mid-November 2019 and continuing until at least March 2020, when the researchers started writing their manuscript.
Tobacco companies denied changing ingredients, manufacturing processes and the quality of tobacco sold in Saudi Arabia.
Smokers in the United Kingdom and Australia also complained about taste differences after their countries implemented plain tobacco packaging.
Previous studies of the matter did not find significant differences in taste, but they highlighted the difficulties of measuring this variable, which may affect the results. The main difficulty is in the method of measuring the difference between the branded and the plain-packaged cigarettes without exposing participants to the brand they are trying during the study. No previous study was fully able to blind the participants to the cigarette branding, although the senses are known to affect the taste.
Remarkably, no significant differences were seen in smokers’ ability to identify their favorite brands.
For the current study, researchers fitted each participant with virtual reality goggles accompanied by special software to alter the visual reality. In addition, the participants wore medical gloves to alter the feeling of touching the cigarettes. Then, participants received six sequences of different random exposures (three puffs) to three plain-packaged cigarettes (two from their favorite brand and one from another brand as a control) and three branded cigarettes (two from the favorite brand and one from another brand as a control).
After controlling participants’ visual and touch perceptions, no significant differences were observed in their ability to identify plain versus branded cigarettes. Remarkably, no significant differences were seen in smokers’ ability to identify their favorite brands.
The experiment convinced participating smokers that the taste of cigarettes in Saudi Arabia remained unchanged after plain packaging. Prior to the experiment, 16 out of 18 participants thought they detected a change compared to the old, branded cigarettes. After the experiment, all participants reported that they had changed their opinion and did not believe any taste differences existed between plain-packaged and branded cigarettes.
The authors note that sensory perception and sensory research are priorities within the tobacco industry because they have direct effects on commercial concerns. Sensory aspects contribute to smoker satisfaction and tobacco product acceptance, and they play an important role in controlling cigarette-puffing behavior. According to the researchers, tobacco companies have capitalized on distinct sensory preferences across gender, age and ethnic groups by tailoring products for specific populations.
May 20, 2021
Bates: Juul Publication Complaints Absurd

Clive Bates
Recent complaints about The American Journal of Health Behavior “Special Issue on Juul” are absurd, anti-scientific and somewhat disturbing, according to Clive Bates, director of The Counterfactual.
In a letter to the editor, Bates said the Juul Labs monograph provides highly salient information on changes in smoking status, drivers of transition, population health impact and retailer behaviors. “The summary for the introduction to the series should be enough to whet the appetite of the genuinely curious and scientifically engaged,” he wrote.
According to Bates, the fact that research is done by a company in the nicotine-delivery business does not invalidate the findings. In his view, Juul’s scientists have done excellent work that stands on its merits and has now been published after thorough peer review in a reputable journal with transparent disclosure of its provenance.
“The real question here is why these tobacco control activists show so little curiosity about the changes that are reshaping the U.S. tobacco and nicotine market,” he wrote. “As Juul rose in popularity, we saw unusually rapid declines in cigarette sales and smoking prevalence in both adults and adolescents.
“The right response to that is to want to know more. The wrong response is to try to suppress or discredit informative data and analysis just because it tells a story that is at variance with a narrative about the evils of both e-cigarettes and the companies that make them.”
May 20, 2021
Academic Journal Criticized for ‘Juul Issue’

Photo: Tada Images
Academics and anti-smoking charities have criticized The American Journal of Health Behavior for publishing its “Special Issue on Juul,” reports BMJ.
The papers in the special issue focus on the implications of switching to Juul products from combustible cigarettes as well as dual use of combustible cigarettes and Juul products.
The special issue was sponsored by Juul Labs. Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris USA, has a minority stake in Juul. The issue was coordinated and edited by Saul Shiffman, a Pinney Associates consultant. Pinney Associates has provided consulting services to British American Tobacco and Reynolds American.
May 18, 2021
22nd Century Installs Nicotine Equipment

Photo: Nitiphol
22nd Century Group is advancing and expanding the capabilities of the laboratory at its cigarette manufacturing facility in Mocksville, North Carolina, USA, for testing of its VLN reduced nicotine content tobacco and cigarettes. The company estimates that its cost per VLN sample will improve by more than 90 percent, and the lead time for key data will take less than a day compared to using a third-party testing service that can take weeks.
“This is an important investment and milestone for 22nd Century, as it is imperative to the launch of VLN and the future of the organization that we have the ability to rapidly conduct high-precision analysis of our own products at higher testing volumes,” says James A. Mish, CEO of 22nd Century Group, in a press note.
22nd Century now has the same lab testing equipment and capabilities as outside facilities. The company is also working toward receiving ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation, which grants international recognition of an organization’s commitment to quality, competency and reliable results. This accreditation demonstrates to customers and industry that 22nd Century has the technical competence to provide reliable and accurate test results even at the lowest nicotine levels.
Earlier this year, 22nd Century announced that it significantly expanded its tobacco growing program to support the anticipated demand for its VLN cigarettes.
May 5, 2021
22nd Century Extends KeyGene Partnership

Photo: stokkete
22nd Century Group will extend and expand its plant research partnership agreement with KeyGene, a global leader in plant research involving high-value genetic traits and increased crop yields. The new partnership agreement extends the length of the collaboration to develop new, disruptive hemp/cannabis plants and intellectual property for the life science, medicinal and pharmaceutical end-use markets.
It also expands the partnership to include research and development activity for noncombustible, alternative tobacco plant applications, such as protein production, and 22nd Century’s third plant franchise, plus it establishes a new governance structure and working model to accelerate development timelines across all three crop/trait programs.
“We have a highly successful relationship with KeyGene, and we are excited to announce this expansion of our partnership that we have been referring to recently,” said James A. Mish, CEO of 22nd Century Group, in a statement.
“Our KeyGene partnership has proven to be crucial for 22nd Century’s growth and success in the hemp/cannabis space. Since launching our collaboration in 2019, we have achieved much together, including a breakthrough in molecular breeding that will significantly reduce the time needed to develop new hemp/cannabis plant lines with commercially valuable traits.”
We have worked together to make game-changing discoveries in hemp/cannabis genetic research.
Walter Nelson, CEO, KeyGene
“Our partnership with 22nd Century Group has been mutually beneficial, as we have worked together to make game-changing discoveries in hemp/cannabis genetic research,” said Walter Nelson, CEO of KeyGene USA.
“This expanded partnership fits well into KeyGene’s push into integrating metabolomics and proteomics with our capabilities in genomics using innovative informatics tools. I am excited to build on this successful relationship and look forward to what we will be able to accomplish in other crops using our technology innovation platforms.”
May 4, 2021
Critics: EU Committee Ignores Science
Photo: pavel_shishkin
The European Commission has missed an opportunity to bolster its Beating Cancer Plan and recognize the importance of vaping in reducing smoking-related diseases among Europeans, according to the Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA).
A recent report from the Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) fails to compare the risks of electronic cigarette use with the risks of smoking, the IEVA noted in a statement. “Such an omission renders the report of little use to policymakers,” it wrote. “An assessment of the impact e-cigarettes have had on European public health must be informed by this evidence.”
Independent and publicly funded scientific research has shown that e-cigarette use is far less harmful than smoking, according to the IEVA.
“The SCHEER committee has failed to present scientific data on vaping in a comprehensive and balanced manner,” said Dustin Dahlmann, president of the IEVA. “The result is a report that is little more than a series of baseless predetermined assertions. Another opportunity to educate smokers willing to switch to less harmful alternatives has been wasted, and this alone has serious public health implications. We urge decision-makers in Brussels to integrate harm reduction in their overall strategy.”

Another opportunity to educate smokers willing to switch to less harmful alternatives has been wasted.
Dustin Dahlmann, president, IEVA
An earlier draft of this report was put to public consultation in September 2020 and was widely criticized. Yet, the final report reiterates the core findings of the initial draft.
A comprehensive critique of this draft was published in the peer-reviewed Harm Reduction Journal. The authors assert that “the opinion’s conclusions are not adequately backed up by scientific evidence and did not discuss the potential health benefits of using alternative combustion-free nicotine-containing products as [a] substitute for tobacco cigarettes.”
The Harm Reduction Journal report recommends seven crucial areas that the committee should have considered to address this significant deficit, but SCHEER has decided not to do so. These were:
The potential health benefits of ENDS substitution for cigarette smoking;
Alternative hypotheses and contradictory studies on the gateway effect;
Its assessment of cardiovascular risk;
The measurements of frequency of use;
Non-nicotine use;
The role of flavors; and
A fulsome discussion of cessation.
Earlier this week, the World Vaper Alliance expressed similar concerns about the SHEER report.
May 3, 2021
Vapor Group Dismayed by Final SHEER Report

Photo: Parilov
The EU Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) final report on e-cigarettes is a step backward for Europe, according to the World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA). Based on weak data, it ignores crucial scientific evidence, experience from consumers and the expert opinions received in the consultation period, the advocacy group said in a statement.
“This report is a tragedy for public health and will have dire consequences for smokers and vapers alike,” said Michael Landl, director of the WVA. “SCHEER ignores a large amount of scientific evidence on vaping, all of which was provided by experts and consumers to SCHEER during their consultation earlier this year. They chose to ignore it. This is a slap in the face of vapers and of common sense.”
According to the WVA, the report does not consider crucial independent evidence from Public Health England, which shows that e-cigarettes are 95 percent less harmful than smoking and recently found that vaping is the most used means to quit smoking.
“Countries like the U.K. and France are actively encouraging smokers to use vaping and switch to this less harmful alternative,” said Landl. “If the EU really wants to tackle smoking-related illnesses, it needs to look very carefully at all of the evidence. Unfortunately, the SCHEER report is biased against vaping, and its recommendations, if transposed into legislation, will damage public health.”
This report is a tragedy for public health and will have dire consequences for smokers and vapers alike.
Michael Landl, director, WVA
The next few months will see further legislation updates in the EU as outlined in Europe’s Beating Cancer plan, including updates to the Tobacco Products Directive and the Tobacco Excise Directive. In this context, the findings of the SCHEER committee may ultimately be detrimental to the health of Europe’s citizens.
“It seems like the main objective has been overlooked: reducing the number of smokers and tackling smoking-induced illnesses,” said Landl. “Vaping is not smoking and must not be treated the same. Regulation must be drafted in a way that encourages current smokers to switch. The EU needs to focus on practical solutions to reduce harm, and this major point is missing from the SCHEER analysis. Vaping can help smokers quit, but this report ignores that and compares vaping to nonsmoking. So it is unsurprising that the results don’t echo reality.”
The full SCHEER report is here.
April 29, 2021
Covid Paper Retracted Over Industry Links

Photo: Soloviova Liudmyla
The European Respiratory Journal has retracted a scientific paper claiming current smokers are 23 percent less likely to be diagnosed with Covid-19 compared to nonsmokers after it was discovered some of the paper’s authors had financial links to the tobacco industry, reports The Guardian.
The World Health Organization has warned that because smoking impairs lung function, there is an increased risk of severe symptoms if respiratory infections, including coronaviruses, are acquired by smokers. Covid-19 is an infectious disease that primarily attacks the lungs.
But the paper, published in July last year by the European Respiratory Journal, found “current smoking was not associated with adverse outcome” in patients admitted to hospital with Covid-19 and claimed smokers were at a significantly lower risk of acquiring the virus.
The article was originally published “early view” on July 30, 2020. Subsequent to this, and prior to publication of the version of record in an issue of the European Respiratory Journal, it was brought to the editors’ attention that two of the authors had failed to disclose potential conflicts of interest at the time of the manuscript’s submission.

I disagree with the retraction, and I consider it unfair and unsubstantiated.
Konstantinos Farsalinos, senior author
Jose M. Mier at the time provided consultancy services to the tobacco industry on tobacco harm reduction. Konstantinos Poulas at the time was a principal investigator for the Greek NGO NOSMOKE, a science and innovation hub that has received funding from the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, which in turn has received funding from the tobacco industry.
After careful review of the manuscript content alongside the new disclosures brought to light, the editors and society agreed that if these conflicts of interest had been disclosed at the time of manuscript submission, the editors would not have considered the article for publication.
The European Respiratory Society has bylaws in place that do not permit individuals with ongoing relationships with the tobacco industry to participate in its activities.
The editors of the European Respiratory Journal acknowledged that, aside from the failure of two contributing authors to disclose their conflicts of interest relating to the tobacco industry, at no point was there a question of any scientific misconduct on the part of any of the authors.
The senior author of the paper, Konstantinos Farsalinos, said in a statement to the website Retraction Watch that the conflicts of interest “were irrelevant to the study’s main aims and objectives.”
“Additionally, I proposed to publicly release the full dataset and the statistical script so that all findings could be independently verified,” he said. “The editors declined. I requested my proposal to be mentioned in the retraction letter, but that was also rejected by the editors. I disagree with the retraction, and I consider it unfair and unsubstantiated.”
April 22, 2021
Study Shows Reduced Exposure HnB Products

Photo: Japan Tobacco
Japan Tobacco has announced the results of a clinical study that demonstrates a reduction in exposure to, and uptake of, selected harmful and potentially harmful constituents in healthy Japanese adult smokers who switched to four in-market heated-tobacco products, including Ploom TECH+ and Ploom S 2.0.
The study was conducted in consultation with a medical advisor, Yuji Kumagai, who is a professor at Kitasato Clinical Research Center.

These results strongly underpin the potential of heated-tobacco products, including Ploom TECH+ and Ploom S 2.0, to reduce the health risks associated with smoking.
Ian Jones, vice president and R&D principal scientist, JTI
“With this study, the JT Group contributes another small but meaningful piece to the jigsaw of scientific evidence on heated-tobacco products. Although further research is required, these results strongly underpin the potential of heated-tobacco products, including Ploom TECH+ and Ploom S 2.0, to reduce the health risks associated with smoking,” said Ian Jones, JTI vice president and R&D principal scientist, in a statement.
“We continue to conduct research to provide scientific evidence of the potential benefits of using our reduced-risk products. As we continue our studies, we will communicate our research data on our science website, JT-science.com,” said Jones.
April 22, 2021