'HNB no less harmful than cigarettes'

A government official speaks about the analysis of the level of 11 toxicants in heat-not-burn cigarettes available in Korea during a media briefing at the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Thursday. Yonhap

By Lee Kyung-min

Three heat-not-burn (HNB) cigarettes available in Korea contain five Group 1 carcinogens classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), with similar-to-higher levels of two other harmful substances compared to conventional cigarettes, a government study showed Thursday.

A study commissioned by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety analyzed the level of 11 toxicants in Philip Morris International Korea's IQOS, domestically produced lil by KT&G, and British American Tobacco Korea's glo. They include nicotine, tar as well as nine toxicants, six of which are Group 1 carcinogens the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends for mandated lowering.

A method approved by the International Organization for Standardization (IOS) showed glo, lil and IQOS, contained 1mg, 3mg and 5mg, of nicotine respectively, within similar range of 100 top-selling cigarettes on the market between 0.01 mg and 0.7 mg. However, lil and IQOS contained 9.1 mg and 9.3 mg of tar, respectively, above 8 mg, the highest level found in an average of 100 such cigarettes.

The three products contained five out of the six Group 1 carcinogens, except 1,3-Butadiene. The remaining toxicants are NNK, NNN, benzene, benzoapyrene and formaldehyde. The Group 2B carcinogen acetaldehyde was found alongside acrolein and carbon monoxide. Over six times more toxic substances were found through a different method approved by Health Canada, in a more stringent test, premised on the greater smoke intake depending on the individual smoker's ㅑpattern of inhalation.

The study could slow the sales of and dispel the common misconceptions about HNB products. Manufacturers of HNB products have claimed the smoke produced after heating and not burning contains fewer harmful substances and therefore poses less of a threat to health, the main reason many smokers switched from cigarettes to the seemingly "healthier" HNBs which led to brisk sales since their launch in May last year.

According to the WHO, however, all forms of tobacco use are harmful, including HNBs. "Tobacco is inherently toxic and contains carcinogens even in its natural form, and therefore they should be subject to policy and regulatory measures applied to all other tobacco products, in line with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control." Korea is bound by the treaty to fight the tobacco epidemic.

The study comes amid increasing popularity of HNB products only a year after their launch in Korea. Data from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance showed that over 28 million HNB packs were sold as of April, a near 14-fold increase from only about 200,000 packs sold in May last year. HNBs account for 9.4 percent of the market.

Meanwhile, the government is continuing its efforts to curb smoking. The Ministry of Health and Welfare unveiled a set of smoking deterrence measures last month to replace the current graphic warnings with more "disturbing" ones similar to warnings all other cigarette manufacturers currently use. The measure seeks to provide facts, intending to increase their effectiveness in preventing nicotine consumption including HNB products. New warnings must completely replace the current warnings by Dec. 23, six months after the official announcement of the plan between May 14 and June 4.

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