What Is Heated Tobacco?

The idea of heating tobacco instead of burning it has been around for some time. After years of research and development at Philip Morris International (PMI), it finally came to life, offering our innovative alternative to traditional cigarettes for adults who would otherwise continue to smoke or use other nicotine products. A cigarette must be lit in order to be smoked. It burns at 600°C at the tip of the cigarette, but can reach above 800°C during a puff. It is the action of burning that releases most of the harmful and potentially harmful chemicals into the smoke that is inhaled by a smoker. On the contrary, PMI’s heat-not-burn device IQOS heats up processed tobacco at temperatures of up to 350°C, releasing tobacco flavor with no fire, no ash, and no smoke. By heating instead of burning the tobacco, the IQOS tobacco heating system doesn’t create smoke and emits on average 95% lower levels of harmful chemicals compared to cigarettes*. It is important to say that it does not necessarily equal a 95% reduction in risk and IQOS is not risk-free. Another advantage of IQOS is that since it produces less smell than cigarettes, it is less likely to bother people around you. By heating tobacco instead of burning it, IQOS does not produce second-hand smoke. * Average reductions in levels of a range of harmful chemicals (excluding nicotine) compared to the smoke of a reference cigarette (3R4F).