Five new posters presented at EUROTOX 2026 offer fresh insights into tobacco harm reduction, highlighting reduced emissions and biological activity from next-generation nicotine products compared with cigarettes.
Imperial Brands will present new research comparing the emissions and biological activity of heated tobacco products, vapes, and oral nicotine pouches with cigarette smoke at the 60th Congress of the European Societies of Toxicology (EUROTOX 2026). The congress will take place in Vienna, Austria, from 13th–16th September.
Across five poster presentations, the research includes a combination of emissions analysis, established toxicology assays, and newer mechanistic methods to assess Imperial Brands Science’s Next Generation Products (NGP), including the PULZE heated system and blu vapes.
Emissions analysis targeting priority toxicants listed by the World Health Organization provides a standardised measure of potential chemical exposure. Complementary laboratory assays aligned with Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development guidelines assess key indicators of cellular damage, genetic mutation risk, and DNA integrity. Newer mechanistic methods further examine biological pathways relevant to cardiovascular health, including effects on heart muscle cell function, blood vessel lining interactions, and immune cell movement.
Two studies focus on PULZE’s iD and iSENZIA consumables, comparing tobacco-based and tea-based aerosols with 1R6F reference cigarette smoke. One study assessed emissions based on the WHO’s nine priority toxicants, demonstrating reductions of 91% for iD and 99% for iSENZIA across all nine toxicants compared with cigarette smoke.
The second study assessed biological activity using OECD-aligned cytotoxicity, mutagenicity, and genotoxicity assays. Under the test conditions, cytotoxicity and genotoxicity were approximately 16–59 times lower than those observed with cigarette smoke.
A third poster examines blu bar vape aerosol using CORESTA battery and ToxTracker in vitro assays to assess cytotoxicity, mutagenicity, genotoxicity, and markers of DNA, cellular, and oxidative stress. The research found substantially lower biological activity compared with cigarette smoke.
The fourth poster uses mechanistic New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) to investigate cardiovascular-relevant biological activity from blu vapes. Using models including cardiomyocyte contractility, high-content screening, endothelial adhesion, and vascular immune transmigration, the research found strong biological responses to cigarette smoke extracts, while vape aerosols produced minimal or no measurable effects across the assays.
The final poster focuses on nicotine pouches. As pouch technologies continue to evolve, Imperial Brands scientists assessed products containing both established and novel pouch substrates. Across a battery of internationally recognised in vitro assays, none of the products demonstrated genotoxic or mutagenic activity, while cytotoxicity was substantially lower than that of cigarette smoke. The findings add to the growing body of evidence on the tobacco harm reduction potential of this fast-growing NGP category.
“Assessing NGP requires more than looking at a single measure of toxicity or biological response,” explains Matt Stevenson, Scientific Substantiation Senior Manager at Imperial Brands. “By combining emissions analysis with established toxicological assays and novel mechanistic approaches, we are able to build a more complete picture of how these products behave, and where meaningful differences from cigarettes can be observed.”
“Interpreting these complementary measures helps us contribute to the growing evidence base supporting the tobacco harm reduction potential of our NGP.”
Independent scientific meetings such as EUROTOX bring together toxicologists from across Europe and beyond to review advances in chemical safety assessment. Presentations of this kind provide data that regulators, public health bodies, and researchers can consider when evaluating the relative risk profiles of different nicotine delivery systems.
Heated tobacco products heat rather than burn tobacco leaf or alternative substrates, while vapour products aerosolise liquids. Oral pouches deliver nicotine through the oral mucosa without combustion or inhalation of smoke.
By presenting detailed emissions and biological activity data at an international toxicology congress, the research team aims to support transparent evaluation of how next-generation nicotine products compare with traditional cigarettes in terms of potential harm.