American Smokers Exposed To More Toxic Punch

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A recent study has revealed that American smokers are exposed to a comparatively higher risk, as researchers say popular cigarettes manufactured in the U.S. could pack a more toxic punch than foreign brands, potentially leading to more cases of lung cancer.

Researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reached the conclusion after comparing the levels of tobacco-specific nitrosamines -- known carcinogens produced when curing tobacco -- in cigarette butts and in smokers from several countries.

The study, led by researcher David Ashley, Director of Office of Science at the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, found that the amount of tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) in U.S. brands is about three times that of brands from Australia, Canada or Britain. Ashley and his colleagues conducted the study while he was with the CDC National Center for Environmental Health in Atlanta.

Researchers studied 126 daily smokers from the four countries who smoked a variety of popular brands. U.S. brands tested in the study included Marlboro, Newport, Newport Light, Camel Light and Marlboro Menthol.

The study found that exposure to the carcinogen -- NNK -- was highest among those from the U.S. compared to the others.

The researchers point to the hazardous "specialty" of the so-called "American blend" tobacco, which contains higher levels of TSNAs than cigarettes from abroad.

The findings, reported in the June issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, suggest that exposures to these chemicals can be reduced by changing curing practices and the blend of tobacco used during manufacturing.

American-blend cigarettes typically contain burly tobacco, whereas cigarettes produced in the other three countries contain bright tobacco, which is lighter in color, flue-cured, and lower in levels of these carcinogens.

It is too early to say if the findings will have any adverse market effect on the cigarette brands in America. Nevertheless, this type of research will help determine changes in the design of tobacco products, according to Danny McGoldrick, Vice-President for research at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

Dr. Jim Pirkle, Deputy Director at the CDC, invited the attention of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to the threat caused by different levels of carcinogens that people are exposed to, as "they vary by different cigarette brands."

However, the study was unable to confirm if lowering levels of tobacco-related nitrosamines in cigarettes will lessen the health risks of smoking, as it looked only at two cancer-causing chemicals in cigarettes.

"It did not look at the two dozen other cancer-causing toxins," says Dr. John Spangler of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Spangler noted that the study lacks comprehensive investigation into other reactive hazards caused by any of the chemicals produced by tobacco use. There are about 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke that might lead to diseases such as heart disease, stroke, and emphysema.

Adding to the pressure on the U.S. tobacco industry, a new resolution by the New York City Board of Health requiring cigarette merchants to publicize the health risks of smoking has left the nation's three largest tobacco companies in a fuss.

Phillip Morris USA, Lorillard, and Reynolds are claiming that the new "graphic campaign," which boasts images of cigarette-afflicted lungs, violate the First Amendment.

As a result, the companies behind Marlboro, Camel, and Newport are suing the NYC administration.

Violation of the new regulation will result in fines of up to $2,000.

Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death in the United States. It is estimated that each year, cigarette smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke causes 443,000 or 1 in 5 deaths in the country.

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