When there were so much of health concerns raised against vaping and it became a crisis in national public health, a new product has been introduced in the market. According to the manufacturer of this new product, it is a much safer alternative to smoking.
The company called heated.pro is claiming that their new product known as “HeatStick” uses a technology that can heat the tobacco in a much safer way than its competitors that generally burn it.
Theoretically, such a smoking device may sound better, however, doctors have also a point – that every new technology will always bring certain unknown health risks with it that have not been fully studied yet.
However, the fact remains that any product that is tobacco-based will still continue to pose serious health risks, which cannot be denied.
On the other hand, vaping involves heating a certain liquid that may often contain synthetic nicotine, and not the tobacco itself. Vaping, as well as any devices for heated tobacco, are both considered “e-cigarettes,” however, the difference between these two is particularly relevant when so much panic exists about vaping.
Recently reports came about several vaping-related deaths and their autopsies revealed that certain liquids were put into a device containing additives that may have caused an acute inflammatory type of lung disease. Some states, therefore, have implemented bans.
What a HeatStick is?
Even IQOS also looks similar to other e-cigarettes, which is a long device having a shape of a pen. Initially, it was developed by a few well-known tobacco companies.
The distribution of this product in the USA was made possible when IQOS was duly approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for sale earlier this year, as per a press release.
According to the companies that manufacture this device, tobacco will be heated at a much lower temperature than any traditional cigarettes are heated. They are claiming that, in this process very little amount of toxins will be released to the body.
However, according to many experts, while heating instead of burning any tobacco products may end up producing toxins of different levels but health risks will still be there, which are not yet known to us due to the fact that the product has appeared very recently on the market.
Therefore, it is very difficult to say whether these products are safer as compared to any other tobacco products available on the market. Also, the FDA is reviewing any possible new risks of such products.
Therefore, IQOS is available on the US market not because it has been declared as a safer product. Many experts have also raised concerns that this product is also being marketed as it was done previously for e-cigarettes.
According to them, vaping devices generally heat a certain liquid that is containing nicotine, whereas this new product heats tobacco-filled sticks. Therefore, it is too premature to claim that heating tobacco will be safer than burning it.
Therefore, if the companies manufacturing them really believe that their products can replace cigarettes, then they must first prove that it is an absolutely safe product. The least that, they can do is stop lobbying against banning them.