'Safer' Cigarettes

In 1994, R.J. Reynolds began testing its Eclipse smokeless cigarette with consumers in select U.S. markets. Most scientists and health professionals agree that the combustion of tobacco creates most of the toxins in a typical cigarette. The presumed relative safety of Eclipse, which from a distance looks like a conventional cigarette, rests on the fact that only a small amount of the tobacco inside it actually burns. Instead, when a smoker lights a charcoal tip on the end of the cigarette, a column of processed tobacco laced with glycerin and flavors heats up. The warmed glycerin produces a smoke-like vapor, which carries nicotine released by the heat into the lungs. Because of the burning charcoal tip, carbon monoxide remains a constituent of the smoke, and overall toxin levels increase when the tip burns hot from heavy smoking.

It remains to be seen how well Eclipse will sell in the U.S. and, with further testing, whether or not it will live up to the claim that it may be a safer smoke. One benefit of Eclipse is that it significantly reduces harmful secondhand smoke.