IQOS vs Traditional Cigarettes: Which Is Safer? A Detailed Comparison

Did you know that over 8 million deaths across the globe are caused by tobacco smoking annually? In the UAE, despite aggressive anti-smoking campaigns, a significant portion of the population continues to be dependent on cigarette smoking for their supply of nicotine. But as new heated tobacco alternatives like IQOS rise to prominence in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, smokers want to know: How much safer is IQOS than traditional cigarettes, really? IQOS is one of a new generation of “heat-not-burn” devices.

Instead of burning tobacco as a cigarette does, I.Q.O.S. heats it to a lower temperature, generating a nicotine-infused aerosol — not smoke. This differential can make a big difference in exposure to some of these nasty chemicals.

Here in this article, we’ll dissect the primary differences between IQOS and traditional cigarettes — including how they work, the health risks and how they are regulated in the UAE. And although some studies indicate that heated tobacco products might decrease someone’s exposure to dangerous chemicals, there’s no “safe” way to consume tobacco. If you’re a resident of the UAE and are thinking of switching, here’s how to make a well-informed decision.

What Are Traditional Cigarettes?

How Traditional Cigarettes Work

In the case of a conventional cigarette, the fire hits a mixture of processed tobacco and paper that ignites. When you light a cigarette, the tobacco burns at a very high temperature — typically between 600°C and 900°C — which causes the tobacco to combust and in turn releases nicotine, the addictive chemical that keeps smokers hooked, and thousands of other chemicals.

In the UAE, for example, where smoking shisha and cigarettes is prevalent among adults, the burning process is the largest factor leading to the negative health impact of conventional cigarettes.

What Happens When You Smoke

Tobacco, when it burns, releases a toxic cocktail of chemicals:

• Tar: A sticky substance that can coat the lungs and the airways.
• Carbon monoxide: A deadly gas that disrupts the body’s supply of oxygen.
• Formaldehyde, arsenic, benzene and heavy metals: The active agents in many of these are classified carcinogens.
• Some 7,000 chemicals: At least 70 are known to cause cancer.

The toxins have no safe exposure limit, according to the World Health Organization. In the United Arab Emirate (UAE), the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) campaigns heavily against tobacco consumption owing to its well-established hazards.

Health Dangers: What UAE Smokers Are Up Against

Some of the different health effects of long-term smoking include:

• Lung cancer: Smoking is the main cause worldwide.
• Heart disease and stroke: From narrowed blood vessels.
• Persistent lung disease: This includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
• Low reproductive yield and delayed wound healing.

Even light or social smoking poses serious health risks. To that end, numerous clinics in the UAE have launched programmes designed to help people stop smoking.

What Is IQOS?

Meaning: A Modern Heated Tobacco Product

IQOS stands for “I Quit Ordinary Smoking,” and is a heat-not-burn device from Philip Morris International. Unlike e-cigarettes that vaporise nicotine liquids, IQOS uses tobacco sticks as they are, branded as HEETS in the UAE.

This technology was launched to provide adult smokers with less harmful alternatives to combustible tobacco, which burns and produces smoke in the form of tar and ash.

How It Works

Here’s what sets IQOS apart:

• The user places a Terea stick in the IQOS holder.
• The tobacco is heated to about 350 °C by a heating blade or induction, in contrast to burning.
• This heats the tobacco and produces an aerosol containing nicotine, rather than smoke that the user inhales.
• Because the tobacco does not burn, there is no ash — and a lot of the nasty byproducts of combustion are greatly reduced.

The Technology: Heat Blade vs Burning

The blade within the holder that IQOS devices contain is generally about as thick as a pencil tip, comprised of a narrow piece of ceramic:

• The warm air heats the tobacco inside evenly.
• It’s meant to be combustion free.
• This produces a less harsh tobacco taste and is not as noticeable as vapor from a lit cigarette.

IQOS devices and HEETS sticks are sold in licensed stores in the UAE and through authorised resellers regulated by Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA) standards.

Key Differences: Combustion vs. Heating

Process of Combustion: Why It’s So Bad

There’s combustion with traditional cigarettes. When tobacco burns:

• Cilia are small hairs that help clean out airways; when tar is inhaled, it builds up in the lungs, damaging cilia.
• CO binds to rbc and decreases oxygen delivery.
• Burning creates tens of thousands of new chemicals — thousands of which can be cancer causing.

The problem is the major one of smoking related diseases cases in the world.

Heating Process: How IQOS Differs

With IQOS, the goal is to eradicate combustion completely. By heating tobacco:

• Tar is substantially reduced or eliminated from the gases.
• The aerosol has much lower amounts of many toxins.
• It´s very similar to actual smoking, can meet the needs of smokers smoking addiction without chemical substances.

Agreements between independent testing conducted by PMI and by third-party labs generally show that IQOS’s emissions have far fewer dangerous compositions.

Health Impact Comparison

Exposure to Harmful Chemicals

There is increasingly more evidence showing that IQOS users are being exposed to 90–95% lower levels of some toxicants. For example:

• PMI’s own research showed much lower levels of harmful chemicals in IQOS aerosol.
• Some independent analyses support this but note that exposure is not zero.
• The products have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration, but Public Health England, a British government agency, said that “heated tobacco products are likely to be less harmful than smoking, but more harmful than e-cigarettes.”