The science behind IQOS: Smoking vs. Heating tobacco

Today, thanks to research carried out over recent decades, we know that smoking is a seriously harmful habit for your health and that the best decision is to stop consuming tobacco and nicotine altogether. However, in order to make independent and informed decisions, it is also essential for society and adult smokers to have available to them comprehensive, transparent and accessible information about the consequences of smoking, as well as about alternatives to cigarettes for those smokers who would otherwise keep smoking.

At Philip Morris we’re clear that the best option will always be not starting to smoke and, if you already smoke, quitting altogether. But it is well known that there will continue to be adults who keep smoking. For all of them we provide our data and results from over a decade of scientific research into new and innovative smoke-free devices so that they can gain a better understanding of the alternatives to conventional cigarettes.

One of the main benefits of heating tobacco over traditional cigarettes is that there is no combustion. When the tobacco in a conventional cigarette burns, high temperatures are reached. This is an incredibly high temperature that could even melt a coin. When tobacco is burned, the smoke that everyone has smelled at some point in their life is produced. Tobacco smoke contains over 6,000 chemical substances, 100 of which are extremely harmful. It is the combustion of tobacco that generates the large majority of the harmful chemical substances in cigarette smoke, and these are the main cause of the serious medical conditions associated with smoking.

Thanks to HeatControl™ technology, IQOS devices never cause such combustion, since the tobacco reaches a significantly lower temperature. As the tobacco is heated, tobacco vapour is released, rather than smoke, significantly reducing the levels of harmful chemical substances as compared to cigarettes. For this reason, IQOS emits on average 95% lower levels of harmful chemicals compared to cigarettes*.

If you want to leave smoke behind and switch to a better alternative, discover the IQOS device that best suits you and join the community of incombustibles.

Remember that our team of personal IQOS advisers are always available to support you with your experience and answer any questions.