00:08 For decades our scientists have endeavoured to reduce the risks of tobacco use and continue to do so today. 00:15

Transcription

1 00:00 British American Tobacco 00:02 00:03 The Electronic Cigarette 00:07 00:08 For decades our scientists have endeavoured to reduce the risks of tobacco use and continue to do so today. 00:15 00:15 Our activities include the pursuit of technologies to reduce the risks associated with conventional cigarettes, and more recently the development of innovative, potentially less risky smokeless tobacco and nicotine products. 00:28 00:29 In 2012, we acquired CN Creative, a UK-based company that specialises in the development of electronic cigarette technologies intended to offer smokers a less risky alternative to cigarettes. 00:41 00:42 E-cigarettes tend to be designed to look and feel similar to conventional cigarettes, but they do not contain tobacco. Many smokers are using e- cigarettes as a substitute for their usual cigarettes and, by doing so, some of them have been able to reduce or quit cigarettes altogether. 00:59 01:00 This is why we at British American Tobacco, and some within the public health community, believe that e-cigarettes could well play an important role in helping to reduce the public health impacts of cigarette smoking and other tobacco use. 01:14 01:02 The likelihood is that smoking electronic cigarettes is better than smoking tobacco. Electronic cigarettes have the potential to save lives. Professor John Britton, Chair of the Royal College of Physicians Tobacco Advisory Group and Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Nottingham in the UK 01:14

2 01:15 Here we describe an electronic or e-cigarette, how it works and why we believe that it has a potential role to play in tobacco harm reduction. 01:23 01:24 Electronic Cigarettes: a safer alternative to smoking? 01:31 01:24 There is evidence that e-cigarettes are being increasingly used by smokers looking for a safer alternative to conventional cigarettes. 01:31 01:32 In recent years, there has been an emergence of e-cigarette products around the world and that trend looks set to continue. 01:39 01:40 In the UK, for example, it has been estimated that there are already 1.3 million current users of e-cigarettes Source: ASH (Action on Smoking and Health, Briefing electronic cigarettes, June 2013) 01:48 01:40 In the UK, for example, e-cigarette use is rapidly increasing among adult smokers. It has been estimated that there are 1.3 million current users of e- cigarettes, which is a three-fold increase over the past 3 years. And, it has been reported that there might be up to 400,000 people in the UK who have replaced smoking of conventional cigarettes with using e-cigarettes instead. 02:04 01:49 E-cigarette use is growing rapidly among adult smokers in the UK Percentage of adult smokers in the UK reporting use of e-cigarettes Source: ASH (Action on Smoking and Health, Briefing electronic cigarettes, June 2013) 02:04 02:05 The main difference between e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes is of course that e-cigarettes do not contain any tobacco. 02:13

3 02:15 Conventional cigarettes are comprised almost entirely of tobacco, which when burned produces smoke. This smoke is made up of nicotine and thousands of other combustion products, about 150 of which are thought to be toxicants. It is these 150 toxicants that are thought to cause the majority of smokingrelated diseases. 02:38 02:32 Smoking is a cause of various serious and fatal diseases, including lung cancer, emphysema, chronic bronchitis and heart diseases 02:38 02:39 E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that contain nicotine. They do not contain tobacco, do not produce smoke and therefore deliver nicotine without the tobacco smoke toxicants released by combustion of tobacco in a conventional cigarette. 02:53 02:54 Nicotine itself is not especially hazardous if nicotine could be provided in a form that is acceptable and effective as a cigarette substitute, millions of lives could be saved. Royal College of Physicians, UK 03:08 02:54 E-cigarettes produce a simple nicotine-containing vapour and are thought to pose substantially lower health risks than smoking conventional cigarettes. 03:02 03:03 Another advantage of e-cigarettes is that while they do not contain tobacco, they provide smokers with much of the experience they get from a cigarette. 03:10 03:11 The hand to mouth routine of using an e-cigarette is the same as that of using a conventional cigarette. And the way nicotine is delivered is similar. 03:20 03:21 The nicotine in tobacco smoke is bound predominately in the smoke particles. 03:23

4 03:23 Tobacco smoke is a complex mixture of vapour and aerosol 03:27 03:24 These, as they are inhaled into the lungs, produce a sensation at the back of the throat sometimes known as 'impact'. 03:31 03:32 Smokers expect this sensation, and it is very much part of the smoking experience. 03:37 03:38 Once in the lungs, the nicotine is released from the particles and into the bloodstream. 03:42 03:43 A typical e-cigarette produces a vapour containing nicotine. This vapour condenses somewhat to produce an aerosol so that there is, in the end, a mixture of both vapour and aerosol. 03:55 03:53 A vapour is a substance in a gas phase 03:59 03:56 The nicotine is bound in both vapour and aerosol phases. 03:58 03:59 The nicotine in vapour form tends to deposit in the mouth and in the throat recreating some of the throat impact that smokers expect, while the aerosol travels to the lungs. 04:10 04:05 An aerosol is a suspension of fine solid particles or liquid droplets in a gas 04:08 04:15 There are other nicotine inhalation devices available but they work in a different way 04:20

5 04:15 There are other nicotine inhalation devices available, but they work in a different way. 04:20 04:21 Most medicinal nicotine inhalators, for example, release nicotine bound almost entirely in the vapour phase. 04:27 04:28 Because the majority of the nicotine is in the vapour phase, most of it is deposited in the mouth so that smokers do not experience the throat 'impact' or delivery of nicotine to the lung that they expect. 04:38 04:39 This, and the absence of the 'hand to mouth' behavioural component with more traditional nicotine replacement therapies, could help explain the growing popularity of the e-cigarette category among smokers. 04:50 04:51 What s in an electronic cigarette? 04:53 04:51 All e-cigarettes have three components in common: a battery; a formulationreservoir containing nicotine and possibly flavourings, which combined is called e-liquid or e-juice; 05:02 05:03 and an atomizer that heats up the contents of the reservoir to create vapour. 05:07 05:08 Some e-cigarettes also have an indicator light at the end that glows when the user draws on the device to resemble a lit cigarette. 05:15 05:18 The current marketplace consists of two basic forms of electronic cigarette 05:23 05:18 The current marketplace consists of two basic forms of e-cigarette: 05:23

6 05:25 Disposable e-cigarettes contain sufficient E-Liquid for many more puffs than would be taken from a single conventional cigarette. 05:33 05:28 Disposable units: Integrated battery, atomiser and cartridge 05:35 05:35 These types of e-cigarettes are self-contained with power source, atomiser and the nicotine formulation combined. 05:42 05:45 Reusable units: E-Liquid refills allow for multiple reuse 05:50 05:45 Reusable products contain a battery... 05:48 05:49...and atomizer unit designed to be re-used over some time. 05:54 05:55 Consumers purchase the liquid nicotine formulation separately, either in single units or in bottles that they can use to re-fill their e-cigarette device on multiple occasions. 06:05 06:07 The concentration of nicotine in the e-liquid may vary between different e- cigarette products, and the e-liquid may also contain flavourings. 06:16 06:09 Electronic cigarettes deliver a colourless, odourless vapour containing nicotine to the user 06:13 06:17 When a user draws on the device, a sensor detects the air flow and heats the e-liquid so that it evaporates. 06:23

7 06:24 This vapour delivers the nicotine to the user. There is no side-stream vapour from an e-cigarette. 06:29 06:30 Who is using electronic cigarettes? 06:36 06:30 E-cigarettes are increasingly being used by smokers looking for a safer alternative to conventional cigarettes. 06:36 06:37 The size of the current global e-cigarette market is estimated at US$500 million, and it is forecast to grow to US$2 billion by :48 06:45 The e-cigarette market in the EU is currently worth around m Source: Library Briefing, library of the European Parliament (March 2013) see here: 06:47 06:48 In the UK, for example, it has been estimated that there are already 1.3 million current users of e-cigarettes Source: ASH (Action on Smoking and Health, Briefing electronic cigarettes, June 2013) 06:51 06:49 The growth of e-cigarettes may be attributed to a number of factors, such as the fact that e-cigarettes resemble conventional cigarettes and provide a similar experience to that of smoking cigarettes without exposing users to the constituents in tobacco smoke. 07:04 06:53 It is estimated that the e-cigarette market in the US will grow to $1bn in the next few years Source: Wells Fargo Tobacco Talk (May 2012) see here: Opportunity.pdf 06:56

8 07:05 Tobacco harm reduction can be described as: Minimizing harms and decreasing total morbidity and mortality, without completely eliminating tobacco and nicotine use. US institute of Medicine 07:14 07:05 Many adults will choose to use tobacco and nicotine products for the foreseeable future. 07:11 07:12 There should be a continued emphasis on prevention and cessation efforts, 07:15 07:16 but we believe that tobacco consumers should have the option of choosing less risky products instead of existing more risky products, like conventional cigarettes. 07:24 07:25 Not all products are equally harmful 07:38 07:25 We don t think that a one-product-fits-all approach will work. 07:28 07:29 E-cigarettes could be one of a range of different types of reduced-risk products for smokers who want a safer alternative to conventional cigarettes. 07:38 07:39 Discover more 07:43 07:44 British American Tobacco British-American Tobacco (Holdings) Limited, All rights reserved. 07:47