Feb 6, 2025

Adult smokers today have the option of exploring different experiences than smoking cigarettes. If you are an adult smoker who would otherwise continue to smoke or use other nicotine products, curious about alternatives to smoking, and looking to make a switch to a different sort of product, here’s the information for you.

 

What are the different smoking alternatives?

There are two main groups of smoking alternatives: heated tobacco, or “heat-not-burn” products, and e-cigarettes.

 

Heated Tobacco Products as a Smoking Alternative

Heated tobacco, or “heat-not-burn”, devices are smoke-free alternatives. Heated tobacco devices utilise real tobacco that is specially processed and formed into sticks. The tobacco sticks are then inserted into the device, where innovative technologies heat the tobacco to specific temperatures, but never high enough to cause the tobacco to burn. As with e-cigarettes, there is also no smoke produced with heated tobacco. Some heat-not-burn devices utilise an external heating source, meaning the tobacco stick is heated all the way around, from the outside. In this instance, the tobacco is not heated first; rather, the paper around the tobacco stick is heated first. This may impact the taste. IQOS ILUMA, on the other hand, uses SMARTCORE™ technology, which heats the tobacco evenly from the inside thanks to induction. This allows the tobacco to be heated first, before the paper, which delivers a consistent taste and experience.

 

E-Cigarettes are an Alternative to Smoking

E-cigarettes are another kind of smoking alternative, but they do not utilise real tobacco. They are electronic products that heat and vaporise e-liquids instead, in a wide range of temperatures, from 100⁰C to 250⁰C. Most utilise a system called “wick and coil”, where the wick draws the e-liquid, which contains flavours and nicotine, onto a coil element to heat it and create a vapor. The vapor is drawn from the device through a mouthpiece. There is no smoke.

E-cigarettes are also sometimes called “vapes” or “vaping systems”. Some of these have an open tank system that is fully customisable. Other e-cigarettes have closed vaping systems, where they are either single-use, rechargeable or contain cartridges.

How are smoke-free alternatives different than smoking cigarettes?

The main difference between alternatives like e-cigarettes or heated tobacco and smoking cigarettes lies in exactly what makes the alternatives “smoke-free”: it is due to a lack of combustion – or burning of the tobacco.

Cigarettes must be lit to be smoked, and lighting a cigarette causes combustion. The lit end of cigarettes can reach temperatures around and above 600⁰C, causing the tobacco to burn, and it is known that the majority of harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke comes from this combustion.

On the other hand, smoke-free alternatives, like e-cigarettes and heated tobacco, eliminate combustion all together. With e-cigarettes, there is no tobacco involved, and therefore, no burning. With heated tobacco products, the tobacco sticks used in these devices are heated to specific temperatures without burning the tobacco. For example, IQOS heats tobacco to temperatures below 350⁰C. As a result, no smoke is produced, only a tobacco vapor. With the burning removed, IQOS emits 95% less harmful chemicals compared to cigarettes.* Important information: it does not necessarily equal a 95% reduction in risk. IQOS is not risk-free.

The elimination of combustion in smoke-free alternatives also come with other benefits – IQOS produces no ash and does not produce smoke. Without a lit end, IQOS has no risk of burning others around you, clothes or furniture. Specifically, with IQOS, adult smokers are still able to experience real tobacco and get real tobacco taste, just with all the added benefits of a smoke-free alternative.

For adult smokers looking for other types of tobacco experiences, IQOS is a better choice than continuing smoking. Important information: IQOS is not risk-free.

 

 

 

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