A study measuring the nicotine levels emitted by HnB products

A study from Greece was carried out to measure the nicotine levels found in the aerosol of heat-not-burn (HnB) products, in comparison to the amounts found in e-cigarette vapor and cigarette smoke.

Diane Caruana

July 31, 2017

The nicotine levels produced by the HnB products were significantly higher than those produced by the first generation cig-a-like e-cigarettes at both puff durations.

Nicotine delivery plays a crucial role in harm reduction to smokers who are trying to curb their habit by substituting deadly cigarettes for safer alternatives. The study whose lead author was renowned Dr. Konstantinos Farsalinos, a research fellow at the National School of Public Health in Athens, was titled Nicotine delivery to the aerosol of a heat-not-burn tobacco product: comparison with a tobacco cigarette and e-cigarettes. It was carried out by using a smoking machine and Health Canada’s intense puffing regime.

The e-cigarette and HnB aerosols were tested at two different puff durations, with the longer puff duration lasting up to 4 seconds. However while e-cigarettes were found to deliver more nicotine at a longer puff, no change was observed in HnB nicotine delivery at a prolonged puff.

HnB deliver more nicotine than some e-cigs

The nicotine levels produced by the HnB products were significantly higher than those produced by the first generation cig-a-like e-cigarettes at both puff durations. Tobacco sticks were found to contain a similar nicotine concentration to tobacco cigarettes, however the levels of nicotine delivered to the aerosol of the heat-not-burn products were found to be lower than those delivered by tobacco cigarettes.

“Nicotine delivery to the smoker is expected to play an important role in the ability to any harm reduction product to successfully substitute smoking.”Study Abstract

Although this study offers some useful information about the relative nicotine delivery amounts of different electronic devices, it is important to note that the levels were measured using a smoking machine and followed a specific puffing regimen. Hence these figures may vary from the exposures in a non-experimental setting, and cannot be equated to the amount of nicotine that would be absorbed by individuals in real life situations. Additionally the devices tested only contained e-liquids with a nicotine concentration of 2%, since this is the highest level acceptable according to the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD).