210Po and 210Pb content in the smoke of Heated Tobacco Products versus Conventional Cigarette smoking

New insights in tobacco radiotoxicity: on the research of 210Po in modern heated tobacco product-radioactivity, distribution, and dose assessment

The purpose of the study was to assess the radiological risk to users and the environment related to the Glo system used to heat tobacco. The concentration of 210Po, radioactivity per cartridge, and radiation dose assessment were evaluated. For comparison purposes, to present the exposure scale, the same analyses were also performed for several traditional cigarettes. The tests were carried out on an alpha spectrometer equipped with a PIPS detector. After examining 60 samples, the concentration of 210Po was found in tobacco that was a filling of Neo cartridges and in traditional cigarettes. 210Po concentrations [in mBq∙g-1] in heated tobacco were higher than in unheated. After heating, a little release of polonium (mBq per cartridge) was observed. The research was also done taking into account the flavor of the Neo cartridges and cartridges from different packages. The 210Po concentrations in heated Neo cartridges were greater than 30 mBq∙g-1 and in traditional cigarettes up to 50 mBq∙g-1. The estimated annual effective dose for Neo cartridges was lower than that for traditional smoking. However, it cannot be concluded that the use of Neo cartridges is healthier and does not affect the environment. What is disturbing is the increase in the number of cartridges used daily, resulting in the creation of waste containing 210Po and, of course, a higher effective dose received by the user.

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

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.

210Po and 210Pb radioactivity levels in local and imported tobacco used in Palestine and Jordan

This study aimed to assess the concentrations of 210Po and 210Pb in various tobacco samples from Palestine and Jordan. Cigarette smoking is recognized as a significant contributor to the radiation dose received by individuals, primarily due to the elevated levels of 210Pb and 210Po found in tobacco. The analysis revealed that the average concentrations of 210Po in locally sourced tobacco and cigarette samples in Palestine are 16.8 ± 2.3 mBq/g and 18.5 ± 2.0 mBq/g, with a total average of 17.8 ± 7.4 mBq/g (15.5 mBq/cigarette). Similarly, the average concentrations of 210Pb in these samples are 18.5 ± 2.6 mBq/g and 20.3 ± 2.2 mBq/g, with a total average of 19.6 ± 8.1 mBq/g (17.0 mBq/cigarette). In Jordan, the average concentrations of 210Po in cigarette samples and narghile tobacco are 20.1 ± 2.4 mBq/g and 18.3 ± 4.1 mBq/g, with a total average value of 19.6 ± 9.9 mBq/g (18.0 mBq/cigarette), while the average concentrations of 210Pb are 22.2 ± 2.6 mBq/g and 20.2 ± 4.5 mBq/g, with a total average value of 21.6 ± 10.8 mBq/g (19.9 mBq/cigarette). The annual effective doses resulting from inhalation were calculated for smokers of these samples. The findings revealed that the levels of 210Po and 210Pb radioactivity in certain investigated samples exceeded the results of studies in many countries of the world. The associated effective doses per year from smoking for all brands products in Palestine range from 34.7 μSv/y to 186.5 μSv/y with an average of 109.5 μSv/y, while in Jordan 54.5 μSv/y to 289.1 μSv/y with an average of 130.9 μSv/y.

Toxicological Aspects Associated with Consumption from Electronic Nicotine Delivery System (ENDS): Focus on Heavy Metals Exposure and Cancer Risk

Tobacco smoking remains one of the leading causes of premature death worldwide. Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDSs) are proposed as a tool for smoking cessation. In the last few years, a growing number of different types of ENDSs were launched onto the market. Despite the manufacturing differences, ENDSs can be classified as "liquid e-cigarettes" (e-cigs) equipped with an atomizer that vaporizes a liquid composed of vegetable glycerin (VG), polypropylene glycol (PG), and nicotine, with the possible addition of flavorings; otherwise, the "heated tobacco products" (HTPs) heat tobacco sticks through contact with an electronic heating metal element. The presence of some metals in the heating systems, as well as in solder joints, involves the possibility that heavy metal ions can move from these components to the liquid, or they can be adsorbed into the tobacco stick from the heating blade in the case of HTPs. Recent evidence has indicated the presence of heavy metals in the refill liquids and in the mainstream such as arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), and lead (Pb). The present review discusses the toxicological aspects associated with the exposition of heavy metals by consumption from ENDSs, focusing on metal carcinogenesis risk.

Review of natural radioactivity in tobacco cigarette brands

Cigarettes smoking are leading causes of lung cancer in the world. In several countries, the radioactivity of tobaccos cigarette brands has been evaluated to estimate the effective dose from smoking inhalation. In this paper, we have reviewed 40 researched papers of radioactivity in tobacco cigarette brands by searching specified databases from various search engines such as Web of Science, Google Scholar, Scopus, Science Direct and PubMed for the studies published between the year 2000 and November, 2023 in English language. Results show that, the arithmetic mean and range of radioactivity concentration in mBq/g were 20.4 (0.4-128.6), 15.4 (2.0-78.8), 630.8 (1.2-1330.0), 8.1 (0.3-41.0), 15.2 (0.2-82.0) and 5.9 (2.0-16.0) from 210Po, 210Pb, 40K, 232Th and 232U and 226Ra, respectively. The annual effective doses were also estimated using the assumption that a smoker smokes 20 cigarettes per day. The mean annual effective doses in μSv/y from 210Po, 210Pb, 40K, 232Th and 232U and 226Ra were 295, 74.1, 5.80, 889.7, 192.6 and 90.1, respectively. The mean annual effective dose is lower than the reference level 1000 to 20000 μSv/y for existing situation in ICRP Publication 103. The average value of ELCR is 1.03 ×10-3, 0.26 ×10-3,0.02 ×10-3,3.11 ×10-3,0.67 ×10-3 and 0.32 ×10-3 for 210Po, 210Pb, 40K, 232Th and 232U and 226Ra, respectively. The ELCR values obtained in this study are well below the world average value of 1.45 ×10-3. The mean value of LCC in per million is 5.3, 1.3, 0.1, 16, 3.5 and 1.6 for 210Po, 210Pb, 40K, 232Th and 232U and 226Ra, respectively. The values of LCC obtained in this study are all below the limit range of 170-230 per million persons. The result shows 232Th contribute much larger for annual effective dose, annual equivalent dose, ELCR and LCC for smoking tobacco cigarette brands compared to other radionuclides. More studies in radioactivity in tobacco cigarette brands from different countries are required to have conclusive mean annual effective dose, annual equivalent dose, ELCR and LCC for each natural radionuclide.

Detection of Polonium-210 in Environmental, Biological and Food Samples: A Review

Ingestion of polonium-210 from environmental media and food can cause serious health hazards (e.g., gastrointestinal symptoms, tumours, etc.) and has been a public health concern worldwide since the 2006 poisoning of Agent Litvinenko 210Po in Russia. With the development of uranium mining and applications of nuclear technology in recent decades, the radioactive hazards posed by 210Po to living organisms and the environment have become increasingly prominent. In order to strengthen the monitoring of environmental 210Po and protect both the environment and human health, a series of explorations on the methods of 210Po determination have been ongoing by researchers across the globe. However, previous reviews have focused on individual sample types and have not provided a comprehensive account of environmental, food, and biological samples that are closely related to human health. In this work, the sources, health hazards, chemical purification, and detection methods of trace 210Po in different sample types are systematically reviewed. In particular, the advantages and disadvantages of various pretreatment methods are compared, and relevant domestic and international standards are integrated, which puts forward a new direction for the subsequent establishment of rapid, simple, and efficient measurement methods.

Dosimetry in the lungs of α-particles (210Po) and β-particles (210Pb) present in the tobacco smoke of conventional cigarettes and heated tobacco products

Tobacco products contain radioactive ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po which can be transferred from the filler to the mainstream smoke. When inhaled, they can contribute to the radioactive dose to the lungs and are suspected to significantly contribute to lung cancer from smoking. Currently, no data are available on the radioactive risk of the heated tobacco products (HTP). However, due to the relatively high heat involved in some of these devices, there are concerns about the volatility of polonium particles. Here we used data on the ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb content in tobacco smoke along with biokinetic and dosimetric models to compute the effective dose induced by conventional smoking and by using an HTP device (PMI IQOS system). Results show that conventional smoking of one pack per day induces a dose to the lung of about 0.3 mSv/year. This dose decreases by a factor of ten (0.03 mSv/year) for the IQOS system. However, this dose reduction is not obtained by specific countermeasures but by the fact that the IQOS system heats only 15% of the tobacco filler to the target temperature of 330 °C. When heated homogeneously to 300 °C, both conventional and Heets (IQOS) cigarettes release about 80% of the ²¹⁰Po from the tobacco, leading to similar doses to lungs.