The Product Science of Electrically Heated Tobacco Products: An Updated Narrative Review of the Scientific Literature

Abstract

Heated tobacco products represent a novel category of tobacco products in which a tobacco consumable is heated to a temperature that releases nicotine from the tobacco leaf but not to a temperature sufficient to cause combustion. Heated tobacco products may therefore have the potential to be a less harmful alternative for adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke cigarettes, as their use should result in exposure to substantially fewer and lower levels of toxicants. This update represents a two-year extension to our previous narrative review, which covered peer-reviewed journal articles published up to August 31, 2021. The scientific evidence published between 2021 and 2023 continues to indicate that aerosols produced from heated tobacco products contain fewer and substantially lower levels of harmful and potentially harmful constituents and that these observed reductions consistently translate to reduced biological effects in both in vitro and in vivo toxicological studies. Biomarker and clinical data from studies in which product use is controlled within a clinical setting continue to suggest changes in levels of biomarkers of exposure, biomarkers of potential harm, and clinical endpoints indicating the potential for reduced harm with switching to exclusive use of heated tobacco products in adult smokers. Overall, the available peer-reviewed scientific evidence continues to indicate that heated tobacco products offer promise as a potentially less harmful alternative to cigarettes, and as such, the conclusions of our original narrative review remain valid.

Keywords: heat-not-burn tobacco; heated tobacco products; next generation products; public health; risk reduction; smoking; tobacco harm reduction; tobacco heating products.

Figure 1. Review methodology