Electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products are smoke-free alternatives to cigarettes for adult smokers who would otherwise continue smoking. These products eliminate the burning process, and therefore produce no ash, and no smoke, hence reducing the exposure to harmful toxicants compared to the smoke of a cigarette.
Despite the similarities between the two alternative products, there are several differences between e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products.
In the case of heated tobacco products, tobacco is heated just enough to release a nicotine-containing tobacco aerosol but without burning the tobacco. Because tobacco is heated and not burned there is no smoke, and the levels of harmful chemicals in the generated aerosols are significantly reduced compared to cigarette smoke.
By contrast, e-cigarettes work differently, as they vaporize an e-liquid solution containing nicotine, derived from tobacco, and flavors when a user draws on it.
Heated tobacco devices heat real tobacco within a specific temperature range, using an electronic heat-control system to prevent it from burning, thus producing aerosol containing nicotine, that exists naturally in tobacco leaves. This nicotine is not the main cause of smoking-related diseases, but it can be addictive.
Despite the advanced technology of HTPs, millions of people continue to smoke cigarettes. Yet, with scientifically substantiated smoke-free products, there is an opportunity for millions of adult smokers, who decide to continue smoking, to shift to these potentially less harmful products. Although they are not risk-free, they are a better alternative for more than one billion adult smokers around the world. However, we’re clear that the best choice an adult smoker can make is to quit cigarettes and nicotine completely.
This article is brought to you by Philip Morris Misr
