A study by a Swiss lab, commissioned by the Blue Cross of Bern, Solothurn and Fribourg, found dangerous toxins called isocyanates escaping from the filters of IQOS e-cigarettes produced by Philip Morris International.
“If isocyanates are inhaled during the use of IQOS, it is very problematic,” says Rainer Kaelin, a pulmonologist and former vice-president of the Swiss Lung League.
Philip Morris acknowledges the problem, but a spokesman for the tobacco company assured the newspaper that the toxin is not inhaled when using an IQOS cigarette.
The study did not check whether the substance is inhaled by the smoker.