Tobacco is a Health Risk Affecting Globally

Tobacco products are dangerous and harmful to the health despite safer than common cigarettes, UK experts says.

The advisory panel to the government has said that the devices produces "a number of  concern compounds", including the ones that can cause cancer.

The manufacturers has said that the manufacturing of their products are targets to the smokers who wanted the "taste of tobacco without smoke and smell".

The group was concerned that the young non-smokers may start using the products. There are worries that the products could lead most people to take up smoking cigarettes.

The Harmful Compounds

The devices heat tobacco to higher temperature to create a vapour but no smoke. They are different e-cigarettes, which vaporises liquid containing nicotine, the highly addictive compound in tobacco smoke.

The groups found out that people using heat-not-burn products are exposed to between 50% to 90% fewer "harmful and potentially harmful" compounds compared with conventional cigarettes.

Prof Alan Boobis, the committee chairman, said:
"The evidence suggests that heat-not-burn products still pose a risk to users. There is likely to be a reduction in risk for cigarette smokers who switch to heat-not-burn products but quitting entirely would be more beneficial."

There was not enough evidence for the committee to compare heat-not-burn with e-cigarettes.
But the committee noted: "If people perceive e-cigarettes as safe this perception could transfer to heat-not-burn tobacco products, despite a lack of data on which to establish this."

Public Health in England had said that there is a large amount of evidence that shows e-cigarettes are 95% much less harmful than smoking.

"We encourage smokers to try e-cigarettes as a way of stopping smoking. People who combine e-cigarettes with support from their local stop-smoking service have some of the highest quit success rates."

Quitting tobacco completely is the most healthiest option, say health experts. A spokesman for Philip Morris Limited, which makes IQOS, said: "We are encouraged by today's statement of the UK's Committee on Toxicity and will continue to share our scientific evidence.

"We believe that smoke-free alternatives, including heated tobacco products like IQOS and e-cigarettes, have significant potential to be less harmful than cigarettes and can play an important role for smokers and public health."

Simon Clark from the smokers' group Forest said: "Electronic cigarettes are a step too far for many smokers so if the government wants smokers to quit there has to be a range of products that fills the gap between combustible tobacco and e-cigarettes."