2024-07-04 01:35:17
Smoking is one of the most serious health problems in the world. According to WHO data, more than 8 million people die annually from diseases related to smoking, and 1.2 million of them are passive smokers. This is due to a very large extent to the harmful and potentially harmful substances (HPVs) that are released in cigarette smoke during the process of burning tobacco in conventional cigarettes.
The best choice for smokers is to completely give up the use of products containing tobacco and/or nicotine. For non-smokers, it is best to never start smoking. However, for all those adult smokers who would otherwise continue smoking, there are better smokeless alternatives to combustible cigarettes – such as tobacco heating devices and e-cigarettes.
Combustion of tobacco in cigarettes – from 400° to 800°C
When a cigarette is lit, tobacco burns at temperatures from 400° to 800°C. This thermal destruction process, known as pyrolysis, produces smoke and ash. Cigarette smoke contains about 6,000 substances, of which 100 have been identified as harmful or potentially harmful. It is these substances, not nicotine, that are the main causes of smoking-related diseases.
During combustion, tar and fine solid particles are released in the cigarette smoke, which, when inhaled, stick to the inner surface of the lung and, with their accumulation, interfere with its normal function. The damage from the accumulation of these particles is of such great and long-lasting consequence that it takes years of smoking cessation to restore at least some of the normal function of the lung and the risk of developing the disease to begin to decrease.
Heating tobacco at controlled temperatures
Tobacco heating devices also use real tobacco, but unlike cigarettes, there is no burning, but controlled heating to lower temperatures, which releases an aerosol. It is water vapor that contains nicotine and 95% reduced concentrations of harmful and potentially harmful substances compared to cigarette smoke. The aerosol emitted by the use of tobacco heating devices does not contain solid particles because there is no combustion, and it does not spread through the air in the same way as cigarette smoke.
Heating of nicotine liquid – up to 250°
Electronic cigarettes do not heat tobacco, but nicotine liquid to temperatures of up to 250°C. They also do not undergo a burning process and cigarette smoke is not formed, but an aerosol is released – water vapor containing nicotine and other substances, significantly reduced compared to those in cigarette smoke.
It is important to note that smokeless products are not risk-free products and are intended only for adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke.
The material was published with the support of Philip Morris Bulgaria.