A new peer-reviewed study has found that aerosols produced by ELFBAR's ELFA pod system contain undetectable or substantially lower levels of a range of harmful chemicals compared with cigarette smoke, adding to the evidence supporting vaping as a harm reduction tool for adult smokers.
Published in the scientific journal iScience, the laboratory study analysed aerosols generated from ELFA pods in four flavours – Super Tobacco, Spearmint, Strawberry Ice and Watermelon – under standardised testing conditions. Researchers measured 17 constituents commonly associated with cigarette smoke.
According to the study, adult smokers who switch completely from combustible cigarettes to the ELFA pod system could significantly reduce, or in some cases eliminate, exposure to multiple harmful constituents.
“This study adds to the growing scientific evidence supporting the effective role vaping products play in reducing, or even eliminating, exposure to harmful chemical substances for adult smokers,” an ELFBAR spokesperson said.
“Providing adult users with quality cessation alternatives has been at the heart of ELFBAR since the brand's inception, and we remain committed to elevating product safety standards through continuous innovation and practice.”
The study reported that 10 of the 17 analytes tested, including carbon monoxide, tobacco-specific nitrosamines (NNK and NNN), acrolein, benzo[a]pyrene, 1,3-butadiene and benzene, were either undetectable or below quantifiable levels across all four ELFA pod flavours.
Researchers also examined metal emissions from the aerosols. Cadmium and arsenic were not detected in any of the samples, while chromium, aluminium, iron and tin were found only at low trace levels in some pods. Estimated exposure to detectable metals, including lead, chromium, nickel, aluminium, iron and tin, remained well below safety thresholds established by the US Pharmacopeia and the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
The study concluded that metal exposure from ELFA aerosols was minimal and did not present a toxicological concern under the conditions tested.
Among the remaining compounds, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde were detected but at levels 99.6 to 99.9 per cent and 99.7 to 99.9 per cent lower, respectively, than those measured in cigarette smoke. The researchers said both compounds were present at levels well below recognised safety thresholds.
The company said misconceptions about the relative risks of vaping continue to discourage smokers from switching to alternatives.
“Many adult smokers misperceive vaping as being as harmful as, or more harmful than smoking, and such misconception continues to raise a barrier to cessation,” the spokesperson said.
“At ELFBAR, we believe transparent, science-based research is essential to helping adult users make informed choices during the whole process of their transition away from combustible tobacco.”
ELFBAR attributed the results in part to ELFA's iron-chromium-aluminium alloy mesh heating coil, which it said reduces exposure to harmful constituents compared with devices using cotton or ceramic coils.
The study was authored by researchers from UK consultancies whatIF? Consulting and Salim-Sartoni Associates, alongside HG Innovation Limited in Hong Kong, which funded the research and manufactures the ELFA vaping products assessed in the study.