Switching from cigarettes to tobacco heating products may reduce risk of developing diseases

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Nov 6 2020

New research by BAT has found that smokers who switched completely from smoking cigarettes to using BAT's flagship tobacco heating product (THP), glo, substantially reduced their exposure to certain cigarette smoke toxicants over three months.

For many of the toxicants measured, the levels found in participants were similar to those in people that stopped using tobacco completely.

This supports BAT's ambition to build A Better Tomorrow by reducing the health impact of its business, given respected public health agencies say that to be considered a modified risk tobacco product, switching completely should have a similar outcome for the smoker to quitting.

Scientists at BAT are conducting the UK's first ever year-long controlled study to see what impact switching from cigarettes to glo will have on general health as well as smoke-toxicant exposure.

Today's results find that smokers who switch from cigarettes to glo exclusively significantly reduce the levels of harmful toxicants they are exposed to, potentially reducing their risk of developing smoking-related diseases.

Further results from this study will provide more evidence to help understand the impact of switching to glo and will be announced once the study has been completed.

These initial results regarding glo are extremely encouraging - glo provides smokers who wish to continue using tobacco and nicotine products with a potentially reduced risk alternative to cigarettes. The results are another positive step for BAT as we continue our journey to reduce the health impact of our business by offering consumers a range of enjoyable and potentially reduced-risk products."

Dr James Murphy, Group Head, Potentially Reduced-Risk Product Science, R&D at British American Tobacco