Eclipse cigarettes: Safer than regular cigarettes?

Are Eclipse cigarettes safer than regular cigarettes?

- Frances / California

Answer

Eclipse cigarettes are often claimed to be less harmful than are traditional cigarettes. That's not necessarily true, however.

Eclipse cigarettes are designed to deliver nicotine by primarily heating tobacco — rather than by burning tobacco, as do traditional cigarettes. Although some research indicates that Eclipse cigarettes are less toxic than are traditional cigarettes, that doesn't mean that Eclipse cigarettes are a safe alternative to traditional cigarettes. Eclipse cigarettes deliver some of the same carcinogens found in traditional cigarettes. In fact, Eclipse cigarettes produce more of the two most toxic carcinogens than do "light" cigarettes. And they actually deliver more carbon monoxide — a poisonous gas — than do traditional cigarettes.

If you're a smoker, the safest alternative is to stop smoking completely.

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