Important information about IQOS

 

PMI offers a variety of quality, scientifically substantiated smoke-free products that are much better choices than continued smoking. Our vision is that our smoke-free products will one day replace cigarettes.

  1. Cigarette smoking causes serious diseases and is addictive. Without question, the best decision any smoker can make is to quit tobacco and nicotine use altogether.
  2. Minors should not use tobacco or nicotine in any form.
  3. PMI’s smoke-free products are for adults who would otherwise continue to smoke or use other nicotine products.
  4. We do not offer PMI’s smoke-free products to  people  who  have  never  used  tobacco  or nicotine products or who have quit using tobacco and nicotine products. Our smoke-free products are not alternatives to quitting and are not designed as cessation aids.
  5. PMI’s smoke-free products are  not  risk  free  and  contain  nicotine,  which  is  addictive. Switching to a smoke-free product is, however, a better choice than continuing to smoke.
  6. We support our adult smoke-free product users in their journey to full conversion through education and guidance.
  7. For  consumers  to  experience  the  benefits  of smoke-free products, they  must  switch completely and abandon smoking permanently.
  8. We inform consumers of all relevant safety information about our smoke-free products.

Safety Warnings & Instructions

Tobacco and Nicotine

  • Sticks used with IQOS devices, contain nicotine, which is addictive.
  • IQOS is not risk-free. The best way to reduce tobacco- and nicotine-related health risks is to quit tobacco and nicotine use altogether.
  • Some users of nicotine-containing products may experience abdominal pain, chest pain, choking sensation, cough, difficulty breathing, dizziness, dry mouth, dry throat, gingivitis, headache, malaise, nasal stuffiness, nausea, mouth irritation, palpitations, throat irritation, and vomiting.
  • Nicotine-containing products should not be used by people who have or are at risk of heart disease, are diabetic, are epileptic, or are experiencing seizures.
  • Nicotine-containing products should not be used during pregnancy or while breast-feeding.  If you are pregnant, breast-feeding, or think you may be pregnant, you should quit tobacco and nicotine use altogether.
  • Stopping smoking or switching to IQOS, or other nicotine-containing products may require the adjustment of the dosing of certain medicines (e.g. theophylline, clozapine, ropinirole). 
  • If you have questions about whether you should use IQOS given an existing health condition, consult a health care professional.

 

Use of tobacco units

  • Only use IQOS ORIGINALS DUO or earlier generation devices with sticks. Never use IQOS devices with a cigarette or similar products. Doing so may cause injury.
  • Do not modify sticks in any way or add any substance to them. Doing so may result in injury.

 

Prior to use of a product, users should read the full Safety Warnings & Instructions, which contain important safety information about the use of the product.

Safety Warnings & Instructions for IQOS 3 DUO or ORIGINALS DUO [PDF]

 

Battery Degradation

IQOS devices, including holders, contain a lithium-ion battery. The lithium-ion battery in the devices is a consumable component that degrades with usage and age. This is a natural process common to all rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. As the battery ages, the active ingredients inside the battery become less capable of retaining energy, resulting in a permanent decrease in maximum battery capacity and usable energy. In addition, the active ingredients become less effective in delivering energy, resulting in a decrease of the battery’s ability to provide sufficient power for electronic device components to operate. As a result, where relevant, the duration of experience may appear to be shorter, the number of puffs or experiences with one full charge may appear to be fewer, the second consecutive use might be shorter or missing.

The battery is a chemical system that requires certain temperature ranges during charge and discharge to work optimally and minimize battery capacity degradation over its lifetime. Although your device has a specific operating range within which the device will function, operating at the extreme ends of this range will degrade your battery faster. Your device comes with customized software to control the charging parameters in order to maximize the life of your device. These algorithms can support the longevity of your battery life, but they can still never fully mitigate the normal aging mechanisms of lithium batteries. High and low temperature operation of your device will accelerate the natural degradation of your battery. Even if you do not use your device the batteries contain chemical systems which can still degrade over time. In order to slow the battery degradation process, we recommend charging your device within the recommended temperature zone, not keeping it discharged for long periods of time and using the charging cables and power adaptors that come together with the device as per the user guides.

 

Please read more on important information in FAQ here

Is using IQOS safe or risk-free? 

No. While switching completely to IQOS presents less risk to your health, IQOS is not risk-free and delivers nicotine, which is addictive. The best option is to quit tobacco and nicotine use altogether. However, switching completely to IQOS is a better choice than continuing to smoke.

Is nicotine harmful? 

Nicotine is addictive.  However, it is not the main cause of smoking related diseases. IQOS delivers nicotine in a comparable way to cigarettes. Our clinical studies show that the amount and rate of nicotine absorbed when using one stick with IQOS is comparable to that of smoking one cigarette.

What is the totality of evidence you refer to when claiming that switching to IQOS presents less risk than continued smoking?

The totality of evidence includes PMI’s clinical data (we conducted 10 clinical studies with thousands of participants in the US, UK, Japan and Poland), aerosol chemistry, and data from 18 nonclinical studies. The totality of evidence demonstrates that switching completely to IQOS, while not risk-free, presents less risk of harm compared with continuing to smoke cigarettes.

How do you measure IQOS emissions, which you claim are reduced on average by 95% compared to the smoke of cigarettes?

We state that IQOS emits on average 95% lower levels of harmful chemicals compared to cigarettes. The percentage (95%) refers to the average reduction of 9 harmful chemicals the World Health Organization recommends to reduce in cigarette smoke. These do not include nicotine. To this effect, we collect the aerosol from IQOS and smoke under the Health Canada Intense machine-smoking regime (55 mL puff volume, 2 second puff duration, 30 second interval puff) using a comparison on a per stick basis.

What is the reference cigarette you refer to as compared to cigarette smoke? 

The reference cigarette is the cigarette independently designed by the University of Kentucky in the US for scientific research purposes. It is a comparator commonly used in tobacco research, which allows the data of a given study to be compared to that of another study. These research cigarettes are not commercially available to consumers.

How do you measure the number of IQOS users? 

We use PMI Financials or estimates, IQOS user panels and PMI Market Research. The number of total users we report refers to IQOS users for whom sticks represent at least 5% of their daily tobacco consumption over the past 7 days, while the number of people we estimate have completely quit cigarette smoking refers to IQOS users who have completely quit cigarettes and for whom sticks represent at least 70% of their past 7-day heated tobacco consumption.