We live in the 21st century and see the result of technological progress. Already today, tobacco companies are gradually abandoning the classic method of smoking a cigarette using the tobacco burning process. As a result of research, it was revealed that a huge amount of harmful substances enter the body with the tobacco smoke of cigarettes. So far, tobacco heating systems are not fully understood, but some experts agree that this is a safer way of “smoking”, and in fact, vaping tobacco.
I know that many are afraid to switch from cigarettes to Iqos or Glo, because they do not know what the sticks are made of. For those who do not know, sticks are the same cigarettes created specifically for a tobacco heating device. In this article, I will tell you in detail what the sticks are actually made of and whether they contain at least some of the real tobacco.
The structure of Heets IQOS sticks – what are they made of?
I spent about 2-3 years with the Iqos tobacco heating system. An interesting device considering the fact that sooner or later you plan to quit smoking. I want to talk about what sticks for Iqos are made of. Who did not know, the American company Philip Morris is engaged in the production of sticks. They gave their brainchild a name – Heets DUBAI.
Visually, the stick can be divided into two parts, like a cigarette. It has a filter and a part that is filled with tobacco. Let’s start with a filter. If we lightly press on it with our fingers, we will hear and feel that there is some solid part inside that makes a rustling sound. To prevent the outgoing steam from being too harsh and hot to taste, the manufacturer used an innovative filtration system.
At the beginning of the filter, the acetate segment is installed. It is followed by a cylinder made of biopolymer material. Don’t listen to those who say it’s plastic. The material is completely safe for humans. This film is made from polylactic acid. This part is needed to cool the steam and so that it does not get too wet. And behind the polylactide element is another acetate segment, but with a hollow hole in the center for better ventilation.
After the filter, there is a part filled with tobacco. There is nothing unusual about it. Initially, I thought that the tobacco in the stick is at least 50% of the entire length. It turns out that the tobacco part accounts for about 20-30% of the stick’s length.
What do we really smoke – tobacco or a substitute?
Before switching to IQOS, many people have questions, what are the sticks stuffed with – tobacco or something else? Let me answer this question right away and write it in more detail. Tobacco is used inside the sticks. Then why does it not look like the tobacco that is added to cigarettes? Another manufacturing technology, nothing more. For the preparation of the tobacco mixture, sticks are taken from the most popular varieties of tobacco, for example, Burley and Virginia.
The resulting tobacco is dried, fermented and then ground on a special machine. The next step is processing the tobacco for further use. The Iqos device does not ignite, but heats up the tobacco. Thus, the smoker does not inhale tobacco smoke with harmful substances, but the most common vapor with nicotine. The two essential ingredients for processing tobacco sticks are propylene glycol and glycerin. Each of them fulfills their task. Without propylene glycol, the tobacco would dry out very quickly during storage. And glycerin acts as a conductor for evaporation.
By the way, I recently learned one thing from a seller in the online store https://iqos3duo.ae/. It turns out that in order to achieve the aroma of menthol, tea or citrus fruits, the manufacturer does not use liquid flavors and the tobacco is indigestible. Inside the polylactide material, which is in the filter, there is a small “thread” saturated with aroma. And when evaporated, this aroma is mixed with the aroma of tobacco.
