Heat-not-burn technology: How Philip Morris is redefining tobacco use

The whole world is moving to the bright side – healthy lifestyles are trending: marathons, carbohydrate-free eating, hiking, and getting rid of bad habits.

 

When it comes to bad habits, tobacco smoking is most often in the top – it’s a big problem, a potential solution to which will be discussed.

 

The World Health Organization recommends not smoking at all, but if you are an adult smoker and not yet ready to give up this habit completely, we will tell you how you can reduce the risks to health with the technological development of Philip Morris International called IQOS.

 

Call IQOS a cigarette, language is not rotated, but smokers in Saudi Arabia, so accustomed to smoking cigarettes that cigarettes are often called electronic devices and even special tobacco sticks Heets. Although they are not cigarettes, given the presence of a battery, flashing diodes and a sophisticated heating element. It is a tobacco heating system that has little in common with both the burning process in the traditional sense of smoking and the vaporization of nicotine-containing liquid when using a vape. In general, get ready for a fundamentally new experience.

 

The fact that cigarettes are harmful to health, it became clear in the middle of the last century. The laboratories began to create different variations of acetate and charcoal filters, which pinned great hopes to save tobacco addicts. Unfortunately, they were not very successful. After many attempts and failures, it became clear that the problem was not the tobacco, but the harmful substances released in the combustion process at the tip of the cigarette at a temperature of 800 – 900 degrees.

 

Then Philip Morris International spent about 10 years and invested more than three billion dollars to develop technology that would rid tobacco users of the burning process and its health effects. The company founded its own Research and Development Center, popularly called the Cube, the holy of holies of reduced-risk product research (RRP), located in Switzerland, next to the picturesque Lake Neuchâtel. In Cube, more than 400 scientists and experts from various fields of science and engineering test developments on artificially grown lung cells every day

 

One of the crowning jewels of Cube’s creation is HeatControl technology, which heats tobacco to a temperature sufficient to release nicotine – about 300 degrees. As a result, the consumer gets the desired nicotine in the form of a smoke-free aerosol. The company claims that up to 95 percent less tar, formaldehyde, benzene and other harmful substances associated with smoking are ingested this way. This, of course, does not make the habit safe, but it provides a less harmful alternative for those who already smoke. 

 

IQOS is sold in a stylish box with a picture of a hummingbird on the lid. These crumbs pollinate only high-quality varieties of tobacco, and therefore appeared on the packaging of the product. In Saudi Arabia, iqos heets are available in online stores offering an exclusive range sourced from different producing countries.

 

The largest element in the box is the portable charger, which fits comfortably in your hand, pocket. The second item is the holder in which the tobacco stick (HeatStick) is inserted. In the holder, similar to the mouthpiece, there is a key element of development – the tobacco heater.

 

Before using the holder, you need to charge it in the device, then insert the stick with the tobacco side into the holder and press the button with a green indicator until the LED flashes. You can start inhaling the aerosol as soon as the light stops flashing after a few seconds. One recharge is enough for 14 puffs or 5 – 6 minutes, after which you will have to put the holder back in the charger and wait about 5 minutes before using it again. 

 

You can do 20 such cycles, based on the number of sticks in one pack, and then the charger will need to be plugged in for about an hour. It’s a little more convoluted than traditional smoking, but it carries some practical benefits other than the aforementioned reduced health risks. For example, the IQOS emits much less odor into the air, on your hands and hair – causing less discomfort to others and looking stylish in any environment.

 

After 14 puffs, lift the lid of the holder and remove the used stick. You will see that there is no ash on it at all – that’s because it didn’t burn.

 

It feels much more like using دخان هيتس than, for example, an electronic cigarette. It is also an electronic device, so it eliminates the possibility of ignition and does not emit tar.

 

At first the feeling of using IQOS seemed unusual to me, apparently because it lacks the taste of burnt paper so familiar to many. But after a week, I got used to the taste of tobacco without impurities and then I began to distinguish the taste of harmful substances in regular cigarettes. It was a very unpleasant sensation. 

 

The second advantage for me was its stylish plastic case. I don’t want to take a pack of cigarettes with very unaesthetic images out of my bag, while IQOS looks appropriate even in photos on Instagram. It’s lightweight, sits comfortably in even my tiny hand, fits in a jeans pocket, and does not embarrass the non-smoking friends with whom I share tables in coffee shops. 

 

Another important plus for me is the absence of combustion. IQOS can’t set anything on fire or burn because it doesn’t burn. For the same reason it leaves behind no caustic ash and therefore no trash and dust.

 

We want to remind you once again that it is better for your health to quit smoking altogether, or even better never to start. And the IQOS product is suitable for those who want to take their existing habit to a new, less dangerous level.