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The material on the A Better Tomorrow Hub is intended to share stories, insights, and science from across the region foster responsible change. The information is provided to scientists, public health authorities, regulators, policy makers, investors and adult tobacco and nicotine users in markets where such content is legally permitted.
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The Science Behind Vapes
Vapour Products are a cornerstone of harm reduction – explore the science, studies, and real-world results behind them.
Vapour Products, commonly known as vapes, are one of BAT’s four types of smokeless products (the other three are Heated Products, Oral Tobacco Products, and Tobacco-free Oral Nicotine Pouches). Vapes offer adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke, a reduced-risk*† alternative to combustible cigarettes. Despite the well-known health risks, more than 1 billion people worldwide [1] continue to smoke. That’s why the need for effective alternative products with lower risk profiles compared to cigarettes, like vapes, has never been more important.
How Do Vapour Products Work?
Vapour Products are battery-powered devices which power an atomiser to create the aerosol or vapour. The atomiser typically consists of a tiny electric heater combined with a wick made from absorbent materials such as glass fibre, cotton, or ceramic. When a consumer puffs on the product, the e-liquid of vapes is drawn into the wick from a reservoir or tank and is then heated to create an inhalable aerosol, commonly known as vapour. Importantly, aerosol is generated when the e-liquid is heated, without combustion of tobacco, avoiding the creation of smoke which contains high levels of harmful chemicals associated with smoking-related diseases. Although e-liquid usually contains nicotine originally derived from tobacco, the Vapour Products contain no tobacco.
BAT offers a diverse portfolio of Vapour Products, encompassing both open and closed systems. Open rechargeable systems allow adult consumers greater control of the vaping experience. Closed systems – available in both rechargeable and disposable formats – work with disposable cartridges pre-filled with e-liquid. BAT Vapour Products heat the e-liquid to a controlled temperature, typically below 200°C, to generate an aerosol without combustion.
The role of Vapes in tobacco harm reduction
The health risks of smoking are undeniable and the advice is simple: the best choice any adult smoker can make will always be to quit smoking altogether. For those adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke, access to products with reduced-risk profiles may provide an alternative to reduce exposure to harmful toxicants associated with continued combustible cigarette use.
Although not risk-free, the weight of evidence to date shows that Vapour Products provide a reduced-risk*† alternative to smoking by reducing exposure to toxicants released during tobacco combustion. A joint published statement from 15 past Presidents of the Society of Research on Nicotine and Tobacco has stated that “While the long-term health consequences are unknown, completely substituting vaping for smoking likely reduces health risks, possibly substantially” [2]. It has been around two decades since vapour products became readily available to adult smokers globally, and the real-world evidence increasingly supports the view that vapour products offer an alternative choice for adult smokers to switch to. In New Zealand, the introduction of vapour products was associated with a dramatic decrease in the daily smoking rate, which dropped to 6.9% in 2023/24, down from 16.4% in 2011/12 [3].
"There is a growing body of scientific evidence from organisations like Public Health England (PHE)** that shows that vaping, "although not risk free poses only a small fraction of the risks of smoking and switching completely from smoking to vaping conveys substantial health benefits over continued smoking".
BAT’s scientific evidence behind vapour products
BAT is committed to rigorous scientific research to assess the reduced-risk*† profile of our Vapour Products. Our cross-sectional study, published in the peer-reviewed journal of Internal and Emergency Medicine in May 2023, unveiled evidence that participating consumers exclusively using BAT’s vapour brand Vuse [5] had significantly better results than smokers for several biomarkers relevant to smoking-related diseases. The study assessed 213 UK participants (including Vuse users, current and former smokers, as well as those who had never smoked) to understand whether people who vape show less signs of potential smoking-related diseases and oxidative stress in comparison to current smokers. Volunteers were chosen if they had already been vaping or smoking for at least six months, or if they had quit smoking for at least six months. The blood, breath and urine of volunteers were analysed to look for signs of exposure to toxicants and biomarkers for potential harm linked to smoking-related diseases.
Results of the Research
The study discovered that besides nicotine, Vuse users had significantly lower levels for biomarkers of exposure (BoE), based on the priority toxicants as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) [6]. Moreover, there were significantly favourable differences in three out of seven biomarkers of potential harm (BoPH) linked to cardiovascular diseases (11-dTX B2, COHb and sICAM-1). Lower levels of biomarkers of potential harm (WBC and 8-epi-PGF2α) for general inflammation and oxidative stress were also found9. The scientific evidence highlights the potential for Vapour Products to offer a reduced-risk*† alternative compared to smoking.
BAT's vision is to build A Better Tomorrow™ by building A Smokeless World. We will do this by reducing the health impact of our business. We are committed to a multi-category approach to Tobacco Harm Reduction, which includes ongoing research, transparent communication, and collaboration with stakeholders, we aim to offer adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke, a choice of lower risk profile tobacco and nicotine products.
Disclaimer
* Based on the weight of evidence and assuming a complete switch from cigarette smoking. These products are not risk free and are addictive.
** Public Health England (PHE) was replaced in Oct 2021 by the UK Health Security Agency and Office for Health Improvement and Disparities
† Our Vapour Product Vuse (including Alto, Solo, Ciro and Vibe), and certain products, including Velo, Grizzly, Kodiak, and Camel Snus, which are sold in the U.S., are subject to FDA regulation and no reduced-risk claims will be made as to these products without agency clearance.
We believe that through knowledge sharing, we can build a Smokeless World, which is why we created the Omni™, a BAT’s manifesto on tobacco harm reduction intended for scientists, public health authorities, regulators, policy makers, and investors.
Visit asmokelessworld.com and download the Omni™. Review the evidence. Join the Conversation.
References and footnotes
[1] World Health Organization, Tobacco, Fact Sheet, 2024.
[4] The study focused on self-reported exclusive users of commercially available Vuse ePod or Vuse ePen3. Thus, references to “Vuse” in the context of the study means either Vuse ePod or Vuse ePen3.