THE IMPORTANCE OF DEVELOPING HEATING INSTEAD OF BURNING TOBACCO SYSTEMS

The tobacco industry has witnessed in recent years an innovation firmly established on science and technology. Tobacco heating systems (THSs) or heated tobacco products (HTPs), which represent one of the most notable achievements in this field, reflect the result of benefiting from scientific research using technology to reduce the risks associated with tobacco burning, main characteristic of traditional cigarettes. This breakthrough will undoubtedly have an impact in the future on changing the behavior of smoking, as well as its desired cessation.

Many tobacco companies have made significant strides in developing alternative products that may be a better option for adult smokers who cannot quit. Although these alternatives are not without risks, the scientific research and evidence of their studies have led to positive review from many independent scientific and health bodies in many countries, due to their potential role in tobacco harm reduction.

The objective of companies’ pursuit to create heat-not-burn tobacco products, is, of course to eliminate tobacco combustion. Combustion is “the mother of all evils” when it comes to conventional smoking. Most smoking-related diseases are caused by toxicants present in the inhaled smoke, many of which form during the combustion and pyrolysis of the tobacco. The alternative system - without the burning - produces nicotine naturally found in tobacco by heating the latter with a blade reaching a maximum temperature of 350 °C, thus significantly reducing the levels of harmful chemicals in comparison with traditional tobacco-burning cigarettes.

It is evident that the majority of harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke come from the very same burning process. To have smoke-free products that work on heating tobacco, although not without risks, may constitute an alternative in the coming years for more than one billion adult smokers around the world who do not wish to quit. However, the best option for society and for smokers remains to quit smoking for good.

This article is sponsored by Philip Morris Lebanon