New Vaping Method Reduces Exposure to Toxicants

Scientists at British American Tobacco (BAT) performed a series of chemistry tests designed to look for specific compounds in the vapor from the new product iSwitch, which uses a stainless-steel blade to heat e-liquid.

New vapor product iSwitch contains very low levels of toxicants compared to cigarette smoke, according to a new study which compared iSwitch to a reference cigarette (1R6F), published in Chemical Research in Toxicology.

Some toxicants found in smoke are not in iSwitch vapor at all and others are much reduced by around 99%.

‘Emissions from iSwitch contain no or extremely low levels of analytes when even used at high power settings.’

"We are constantly innovating to seek to expand our potentially reduced-risk product portfolio," says Dr Chris Proctor, Group Head of Potentially Reduced-Risk Product Science at BAT.

Most conventional vaping devices are based on a coil-and-wick system whereby e-liquid is drawn up from a reservoir by a cotton wick. A metal coil is wrapped around the wick and, when heated, turns the liquid into vapor. The resulting vapor contains substantially fewer and lower levels of certain toxic substances than cigarette smoke.

However, some low-quality coil-and-wick systems, or those not used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions, can dry out or overheat, known as dry-wicking. This can cause the thermal breakdown of humectants in the e-liquid, leading to the formation of toxic compounds, such as carbonyls.

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iSwitch’s puretech stainless-steel blade replaces the coil-and-wick, and it is constantly fed e-liquid by a capillary system. This means it does not overheat or dry out, overcoming the issue of dry-wicking.

"As well as improving the performance of vaping devices, puretech lessens the risk of humectant thermal breakdown, further reducing emissions of potentially harmful substances," says Chuan Liu, Senior Principal Scientist at BAT.

"This was reflected in our study, which showed that, even when used at high power settings, iSwitch emissions contain no or extremely low levels of analytes."

Human studies are needed to further substantiate the results of these tests.

Source-Eurekalert