Heating vs. Burning
Heating and burning might seem alike, but in smoking, the difference is significant.
When a cigarette burns, the tip can exceed 800 degrees Celsius, producing smoke and releasing harmful chemicals. This combustion process occurs each time a cigarette is lit. It is responsible for producing both smoke and TAR, resulting in smokers inhaling over 7,000 chemicals, around 70 of which can cause serious and lasting damage to the body.
What you should know: the harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke are mostly responsible for causing smoking related diseases, like lung cancer.
On the other hand, heating tobacco is a very different process from burning and causes different results entirely.
If tobacco is heated at a lower temperature, the process of combustion DOES NOT happen, smoke is NOT produced, and TAR is not present. This is the case with smoke-free alternatives: nicotine is delivered without burning, causing less harm overall. One of the most noticeable differences between cigarettes and smoke-free alternatives is that lack of ash (as there is no burning) and the lack of smoke smell. To put it simply:
No burning = no smoke = no TAR.