# New clinical study: exclusive e-cigarette use similar to complete smoking cessation



## Alex (13/7/16)

Public Release: 12-Jul-2016
* New clinical study shows exclusive e-cigarette use reduces exposure to harmful chemicals similar to complete smoking cessation *
E-cigarettes reduce exposure to harmful chemicals, similar to complete smoking cessation

Fontem Ventures




*IMAGE: *New peer-reviewed research published today shows that smokers who completely substitute conventional cigarettes with commercial e-cigarettes experience dramatic reductions in exposure to harmful chemicals view more 

Credit: Fontem Ventures

London, 13 July 2016 - New peer-reviewed research published today shows that smokers who completely substitute conventional cigarettes with commercial e-cigarettes experience dramatic reductions in exposure to harmful chemicals that are thought to contribute to tobacco-related diseases, not that dissimilar to complete smoking cessation.

The clinical findings, reported in the _Journal of Toxicology Mechanisms and Methods_, measured the changes in fifteen biomarkers of exposure to harmful and potentially harmful constituents (HPHCs) - reported by FDA to be significant contributors to smoking-associated disease risks, including carbon monoxide, aldehydes, and tobacco-specific nitrosamines - in the urine, blood and exhaled breath of 105 adult smokers during a five-day controlled trial.

"To provide comparative information for this study, we split participants into three groups. Importantly, we requested the first group abstain from tobacco and vaping entirely to give us a benchmark for the maximum achievable exposure reductions. The second group used e-cigarettes exclusively and the third used both e-cigarettes and their usual brand of tobacco cigarettes," explained Dr. Grant O'Connell, Vice President of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs. "Encouragingly, in eight out of the nine urinary biomarkers we studied, the reductions in levels of HPHCs following exclusive use of e-cigarettes were almost indistinguishable from reductions in smokers who stopped altogether during the same time. The obvious exception was nicotine."

In the blood of both e-cigarette users and smokers who quit, levels of carbon monoxide were reduced by over 75 percent. Levels of volatile organic compounds such as acrolein, benzene and 1-3-butadiene were reduced by over 80 percent in both groups. Similarly, levels of tobacco-specific nitrosamines were reduced by 66 to 98 percent in the cessation group, and 62 to 93 percent in the e-cigarette group.

"Interestingly, when it came to the dual use group who halved their self-reported daily cigarette consumption of tobacco cigarettes by using e-cigarettes, we also saw reductions in exposure to HPHCs that were broadly proportional to the reduction in number of cigarettes smoked," said O'Connell. "The findings support earlier research conducted by Fontem Ventures which showed that e-cigarette vapour is over 95% less toxic than smoke from a cigarette, contains over 95% less HPHCs, and does not negatively impact indoor air quality, unlike conventional cigarette smoke."

"We are committed to making a valuable contribution to the science around vaping," said Marc Michelsen, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Communications. "And these latest findings are encouraging in that they support the results of other third party studies, which conclude that e-cigarettes offer smokers a less harmful alternative to tobacco."

Fontem Ventures is currently conducting - and will continue to conduct - further clinical and scientific research to understand whether or not reduced exposure to HPHCs translates into changes in some of the short-term health indicators associated with being harmful, or potentially harmful, to human health. 

source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/ac-eeu071216.php

Reactions: Like 7 | Winner 8 | Informative 2


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## BumbleBee (13/7/16)

Finally some actual proof that when I say I am a non-smoker that I am in fact a Non-Smoker!

Reactions: Like 3 | Agree 1


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## RichJB (13/7/16)

How long will it take before life insurance and other companies sit up and take note of this? Surely monitoring nicotine in the bloodstream - one of the few things in cigarette smoke that doesn't really harm you - is an outmoded convention? Why don't they do a test for carbon monoxide instead?

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 3 | Winner 1


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## Cespian (13/7/16)

IMO what this study is missing is the possibility of other harmful chemicals (prior or post inhalation) not previously found in tobacco. Although unlikely, there is still a posibility. I think we have all already debarked that we can no longer compare vaping to smoking. Sorry for sounding like a pessimist. I do believe that it is much healthier than smoking, but anything unnatural should have some sort of bad side effect(s).

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Silver (13/7/16)

Great find @Alex - thanks for sharing

I agree with your sentiments @Cespian - it is possible that there is something else about vaping that could have negative effects over the longer term. 

However, I do think that research like this helps to make us more confident that vaping is not just better than smoking but _considerably_ better.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## Neal (13/7/16)

Cespian said:


> IMO what this study is missing is the possibility of other harmful chemicals (prior or post inhalation) not previously found in tobacco. Although unlikely, there is still a posibility. I think we have all already debarked that we can no longer compare vaping to smoking. Sorry for sounding like a pessimist. I do believe that it is much healthier than smoking, but anything unnatural should have some sort of bad side effect(s).



Relevant point of view @Cespian, more research is definitely needed before we all disappear up our own ringbits without taking all factual evidence into account. On the brighter side it does seem that most of the recent evidence being presented is working in our favour, whether or not the powers that be will see it in a positive light is doubtful.

Reactions: Like 1


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## MR_F (14/7/16)

Vape - 1 
Smoking- 0

Reactions: Like 1


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## RichJB (14/7/16)

I don't want to put a damper on what is a good news story but it is always important to know who is conducting scientific research. I did a google search on "Fontem Ventures", the company credited with the research in the article, and it appears that they are a subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco. For context, Imperial Tobacco is the company that bought the patent rights to e-cigs from Han Li, the Chinese inventor. There was concern at the time that he had sold his invention to big tobacco, but he claimed that it was merely sound business sense.

Anyway, Imperial Tobacco - via its subsidiary Fontem Ventures - has sued a bunch of vaping manufacturers in the US for patent infringement, and recently reached a settlement with them. Whether that is a case of a company protecting rights it has paid a lot of money for, or big tobacco trying to shut down competition in the vaping market, I'll leave for you to decide. Full article here. And there is a brief profile of Fontem Ventures and the brands it owns here.

I don't think them being a tobacco company negates or taints the research they've done. But it's important that we have full disclosure in the industry.

Reactions: Informative 3


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## CloudmanJHB (14/7/16)

When I saw the header of this article I just knew it was Alex ! 

Thanks for sharing bud

Reactions: Thanks 1


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