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Are light or low tar cigarettes better for your health?
According to David M. Burns, M.D., senior scientific editor
of the monograph and a professor at the University of California, San Diego
School of Medicine, "The take-home message of this report is that the only
proven way to reduce the disease risks associated with smoking is to quit."
The FTC has asked the Department of Health and Human Services
(DHHS) for guidance to improve its testing method for tar and nicotine. NCI
and other DHHS agencies will convene a working group to review and
synthesize the science on this issue and to determine what changes should be
made to the testing method to correct the limitations identified in the
monograph. |
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The measurements also do not offer meaningful information on the relative amounts of tar and nicotine exposure likely to be received from smoking different brands of cigarettes." According to Leischow, "There is an urgent need to develop new approaches to testing that offer meaningful information. Smokers should not believe that the tar and nicotine levels listed on a pack of cigarettes are what they are actually inhaling." Smokers Compensate
The monograph describes the advertising and promotional
strategies used by the tobacco industry to market lower-yield cigarettes. It
concludes that these strategies were intended to reassure smokers and to
prevent them from quitting, and that they led consumers to perceive filtered
and low-tar products as safer alternatives to regular cigarettes. The
monograph also cites internal tobacco industry documents that demonstrate
the industry's early knowledge of the discrepancy between the FTC
machine-measured yields of tar and nicotine and what the smoker actually
inhales. |
The filters in low-tar/low-nicotine cigarettes often include vent holes which, when open, allow air to enter and dilute the smoke. However, many smokers cover these holes with their lips and fingers. In contrast, when tested by a machine, the holes are unobstructed, and artificially low measurements of tar and nicotine are obtained. In addition, smokers who switch to low-tar or low-nicotine cigarettes from regular cigarettes "compensate" for the lower nicotine level by inhaling more deeply; taking larger, more rapid, or more frequent puffs; or by increasing the number of cigarettes smoked per day. As a result, smokers cancel out any potential benefit of smoking a "low-tar" cigarette.
Future Research
The authors note that continued research, as well as tracking of the diseases caused by smoking, is necessary to determine the disease risks associated with recently introduced "reduced exposure" cigarettes or cigarette-like products. Further study on the health risks of individuals who have smoked only "low-yield," "ultra-low-yield," and "low-carcinogen" cigarettes is also needed.
Read the first part of this article. Millions of Americans smoke "low-tar," "mild," or "light" cigarettes, believing those cigarettes to be less harmful than other cigarettes.
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