//NEW RESEARCH: SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER LEVELS OF HARMFUL CHEMICALS IN BLU 2.0 AND BLU BAR VAPOUR COMPARED TO CIGARETTE SMOKE

As part of our commitment to making a meaningful contribution to tobacco harm reduction, Imperial Brands continues to assess our next generation product portfolio’s potential to reduce risk – relative to combustible tobacco.

Update April 2024: This research was presented at the British Toxicology Society Congress. See the poster here.

Imperial’s previous research has demonstrated the aerosols from our blu vapes have a simpler chemical composition than cigarette smoke, with substantially lower levels of the harmful chemicals present in cigarette smoke.

To investigate the tobacco harm reduction potential of our latest vape innovations – blu 2.0 (our pod-based system) and blu bar (our disposable device) – scientists in our Hamburg labs examined their aerosols for 53 of the harmful or potentially harmful chemicals present in cigarette smoke.

The assessed toxicants covered a range of different chemical classes – including various carbonyls, polyaromatic amines and metals – with some also being of public health interest to regulatory and public health bodies like the US FDA and WHO.

• blu 2.0’s tobacco flavour was tested (1.6% nicotine concentration).
• blu bar’s kiwipassion flavour was tested (1.6% nicotine concentration).

The results demonstrated both blu 2.0 and blu bar vapour have an average of approximately 98% lower levels of harmful chemicals compared to cigarette smoke.

The graphs below detail the exact constituents detected, as well as average reductions for each blu product compared to the levels recorded in cigarette smoke.

Thomas Nahde, Head of Harm Reduction & Engagement, comments: “These results clearly demonstrate that, no matter the flavour, blu 2.0 and blu bar vapour exhibits a significant reduction of the harmful chemicals found in cigarette smoke.

“We’ve also recently demonstrated that reductions in these numbers and levels of harmful chemicals in blu 2.0’s aerosol translates to reduced cell toxicity, and look forward to presenting both sets of findings externally soon.”

Florence Greep, Imperial Brands EVP Category Director, concludes: “Our next step in terms of vape research is providing both blu 2.0 and blu bar to adult smokers with no intention to quit as part of innovative new in-market research we’re conducting in the UK. This ‘actual use’ study will measure how participants use blu over time to potentially help cut down – and perhaps even entirely replace – cigarette smoking.

“We’re hopeful the results of these latest initiatives will provide even more compelling evidence to public health and regulators of the tangible impact that high quality, scientifically substantiated and responsibly marketed vapes like blu can potentially make on smoking rates and broader public health.”

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