Review of industry reports on EU priority tobacco additives part A: Main outcomes and conclusions.
Tob. Prev. Cessation. 2022-07-05; 8(July): 1-18
DOI: 10.18332/tpc/151529
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Havermans A(1), Mallock N(2), Zervas E(3)(4), Caillé-Garnier S(5), Mansuy T(6), Michel C(6), Pennings JLA(1), Schulz T(2), Schwarze PE(7), Solimini R(8), Tassin JP(9), Vardavas CI(10), Merino M(11), Pauwels CGGM(1), van Nierop LE(1), Lambré C(12), Bolling AK(7).
Author information:
(1)Centre for Health Protection, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, Netherlands.
(2)German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Berlin, Germany.
(3)Hellenic Thoracic Society, Athens, Greece.
(4)School of Applied Arts and Sustainable Design, Hellenic Open University, Athens, Greece.
(5)Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
(6)French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety, Paris, France.
(7)Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
(8)Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
(9)Sorbonne University, Paris, France.
(10)Hellenic Cancer Society, Athens, Greece.
(11)Andalusia Agency For Agriculture and Fisheries Development, Seville, Spain.
(12)National Institute of Health and Medical Research, Paris, France.
The European Union Tobacco Products Directive (EU TPD) mandates enhanced
reporting obligations for tobacco manufacturers regarding 15 priority additives.
Within the Joint Action on Tobacco Control (JATC), a review panel of independent
experts was appointed for the scientific evaluation of the additive reports
submitted by a consortium of 12 tobacco manufacturers. As required by the TPD,
the reports were evaluated based on their comprehensiveness, methodology and
conclusions. In addition, we evaluated the chemical, toxicological, addictive,
inhalation facilitating and flavoring properties of the priority additives based
on the submitted reports, supplemented by the panel’s expert knowledge and some
independent literature. The industry concluded that none of the additives is
associated with concern. Due to significant methodological limitations, we
question the scientific validity of these conclusions and conclude that they are
not warranted. Our review demonstrates that many issues regarding toxicity,
addictiveness and attractiveness of the additives have not been sufficiently
addressed, and therefore concerns remain. For example, menthol facilitates
inhalation by activation of the cooling receptor TRPM8. The addition of sorbitol
and guar gum leads to a significant increase of aldehydes that may contribute to
toxicity and addictiveness. Titanium dioxide particles (aerodynamic diameter