Determination of reactive oxygen species in mainstream smoke from various heated tobacco products

Although smoking rates have been declining worldwide, new types of tobacco products have been gradually spreading in recent years, especially in Japan, where heated tobacco products (HTPs) users are rapidly increasing. Oxidative stress caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) is one of the causes of smoking-induced carcinogenesis, respiratory diseases, and cardiovascular diseases. However, information on the amount of ROS contained in mainstream smoke from HTPs is limited. In this study, we measured the amount of ROS generated from HTPs to evaluate the oxidative stress-related toxicity of HTPs.

IQOS ILUMA, glo hyper+, and Ploom X ADVANCED were used as the HTP devices. Mainstream smoke was collected from each HTP according to Health Canada Intense regime (smoke volume, 55 mL; smoke duration, 2 s). The collected ROS were reacted with 2,7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein reagents, and the amount of ROS was calculated as H₂O₂ equivalent from the fluorescence intensity obtained.

The ROS in the mainstream smoke from IQOS ILUMA, glo hyper+ (high-temperature mode), and Ploom X ADVANCED was found to be 48.8 ± 8.6, 86.6 ± 12.6, and 40.8 ± 5.7 nmol H₂O₂/stick, respectively (n = 6, mean ± standard deviation), with the highest being from glo hyper+ (high-temperature mode). The amount of ROS was significantly higher in the high-temperature mode of glo hyper+ than in the standard mode of glo hyper+. Additionally, the estimated amount of ROS from smoking 20 heated sticks per day (674-2160 nmol H₂O₂/day) was equivalent to 2.2-96 times the amount of daily exposure to ROS in the urban atmosphere (approximately 22-300 nmol H₂O₂/day).

We found that ROS is generated from HTPs of different devices. This study suggests that HTPs users may be exposed to much more ROS than they are exposed to in normal life.