Heated Tobacco Products: Volatile Emissions and Their Predicted Impact on Indoor Air Quality

This study characterized emissions from IQOS, a heated tobacco product promoted as a less harmful alternative to cigarettes. Consumable tobacco plugs were analyzed by headspace GC/MS to assess the influence of heating temperature on the emission profile. Yields of major chemical constituents increased from 4.1 mg per unit at 180 °C to 6.2 mg at 200 °C, and 10.5 mg at 220 °C. The Health Canada Intense smoking regime was used to operate IQOS in an environmental chamber, quantifying 33 volatile organic compounds in mainstream and sidestream emissions. Aldehydes, nitrogenated species, and aromatic species were found, along with other harmful and potentially harmful compounds. Compared with combustion cigarettes, IQOS yields were in most cases 1-2 orders of magnitude lower. However, yields were closer to, and sometimes higher than electronic cigarettes. Predicted users' daily average intake of benzene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and acrolein were 39 μg, 32 μg, 2.2 mg and 71 μg, respectively. Indoor air concentrations were estimated for commonly encountered scenarios, with acrolein levels of concern (over 0.35 μg m^-3) derived from IQOS used in homes and public spaces. Heated tobacco products are a weaker indoor pollution source than conventional cigarettes, but their impacts are neither negligible nor yet fully understood.