Even third-hand smoke carries carcinogens: study

Old tobacco smoke does more than simply make a room smell stale -- it can leave cancer-causing toxins behind, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.

They found cancer-causing agents called tobacco-specific nitrosamines stick to a variety of surfaces, where they can get into dust or be picked up on the fingers. Children and infants are the most likely to pick them up, the team at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California reported.

"These findings raise concerns about exposures to the tobacco smoke residue that has been recently dubbed 'third-hand smoke'," the researchers wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, available here

They suggested a good clean-up could help remove these potentially harmful chemicals and said their findings suggest other airborne toxins may also be found on surfaces.

"TSNAs (tobacco-specific nitrosamines) are among the most broadly acting and potent carcinogens present in unburned tobacco and tobacco smoke," Berkeley chemist Hugo Destaillats, who worked on the study, said in a statement.

"The burning of tobacco releases nicotine in the form of a vapor that adsorbs strongly onto indoor surfaces, such as walls, floors, carpeting, drapes and furniture. Nicotine can persist on those materials for days, weeks and even months."

The nicotine combines with another common compound called nitrous acid to form tobacco-specific nitrosamines or TSNAs, Destaillats and colleagues found.

Unvented gas appliances are the main source of nitrous acid indoors, and vehicle engines emit it too.

The researchers did laboratory tests with cigarette smoke, and also tested a 45-year-old pickup truck driven by a heavy smoker. The TSNA compound formed quickly if nitrous acids were around -- notably in the truck compartment but also in rooms where cigarette smoke wafted.

It would be easy to ingest this new compound, they said, calling it "an unappreciated health hazard."

"Because of their frequent contact with surfaces and dust, infants and children are particularly at risk," they wrote.

"Nicotine, the addictive substance in tobacco smoke, has until now been considered to be non-toxic in the strictest sense of the term," Kamlesh Asotra of the University of California's Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, which paid for the study, said in a statement.

"What we see in this study is that the reactions of residual nicotine with nitrous acid at surface interfaces are a potential cancer hazard, and these results may be just the tip of the iceberg."

James Pankow, who also worked on the study, said it may raise questions about the safety of electronic cigarettes, or "e-cigarettes." which produce a nicotine vapor but not smoke.

The researchers said regulators who have cracked down on second-hand smoke with smoking bans may decide to consider policies on third-hand smoke.

Source: Reuters - 8 February 2010
Link: http://bit.ly/cYuguy

Jail sentence for US cigarette smuggler

In the first case of its kind, a third country national has received a custodial sentence in the United States for fraud against the financial interests of the European Union and has been ordered to re-pay $1.5 million in restitution.

In the so-called "Miami" case, the Court in the Southern District of Florida has sentenced a US citizen to 2 years in jail and ordered him to re-pay a massive $1.5 million to the EU authorities for his part in smuggling millions of cigarettes onto the EU black market. Roman Vidal was handed the sentence on Friday after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to charges relating to his part in defrauding European taxpayers of several million Euros in customs duties and taxes. The defendant had conspired with individuals in the EU to smuggle cigarettes mis-described as other goods from the port of Miami into a number of EU countries including Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Following the sentencing, OLAF's Acting Director General Mr. Nicholas Ilett said "This is another fantastic result in this large-scale, complex international investigation which has been coordinated by OLAF. As well as the USA, this investigation spanned nine EU Member States and several countries in Central and South America. 43 million cigarettes were seized in the EU and 11 arrests were made. We are particularly grateful for the excellent cooperation and support we have received from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the US Department of Justice in respect to the American aspects of this case. Not only must Mr. Vidal spend the next 2 years in jail, he must also pay back his share of the illegal profits”.

Mr. Ilett added that he would also like to congratulate the Irish Revenue and Customs Service, German Customs, the Guardia Civil in Spain and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs UK which have all played a significant role in ensuring the successful outcome in this investigation and preventing further financial losses.

[...]

Source: OLAF - 8 February 2010
Link: http://bit.ly/cB36vR

Exposure to passive smoking falls

Children's exposure to passive smoking has declined by nearly 60% in 10 years, a study revealed.

Levels of the tell-tale tobacco by-product cotinine in children's saliva fell by 59% between 1996 and 2006, researchers found.

The study, lead by Dr Anna Gilmore of the University of Bath, revealed a "marked decline" in exposure to second-hand smoke among children aged four to 15.

The team analysed eight surveys conducted between 1996 and 2006 including saliva samples taken from over 19,000 children aged between four and 15.

The samples were analyzed for a substance called cotinine, an indicator of tobacco smoke exposure.

The largest decline was between 2005 and 2006, and coincided with increased public debate and information campaigns in the run up to the 2007 anti-smoking legislation.

Second-hand smoke exposure in non-smoking children was highest when one or both parents smoke, when the children are looked after by carers that smoke, and when smoking is allowed in the home.

Dr Michelle Sims, writing in the paper published today in Addiction, explained: "The importance of carer and parental smoking and household exposure tells us that reducing exposure in the home is the key to reducing the health risks associated with second-hand smoke exposure in children."

Dr Anna Gilmore, who led the project, said: "This study shows that the factors which most strongly influence children's exposure are modifiable.

"Parents and carers can reduce their children's exposure to smoke by giving up smoking, or failing this, only smoking outside the house."

Source: Yahoo!/Press Association - 8 February 2010
Link: http://bit.ly/daIAFa

£260million up in smoke: EU giveaway to tobacco industry

Taxpayers are forking out millions of pounds to help the Tobacco industry.

Barmy Eurocrats are handing over a whopping £260million to growers in 11 countries.

They're pleading poverty as powerful cigarette companies have been able to drive down prices. But SNP MEP Alyn Smith blasted: "This money could fund a world-class cancer research centre every year - instead it's paying for an industry that KILLS people. We can't protect the tobacco industry at the expense of lives."

Smith, above, has launched a petition against the subsidies on www.alynsmith.eu and urged new EU health commissioner John Dalli to join his campaign.

Across Europe, a million people each year die from tobacco-related illnesses. The largest European crops are grown in Italy, Spain, Poland and Bulgaria. MEPs from those nations say their product is "healthier" than tobacco from elsewhere.

But Smith may have a fight on his hands. Last month Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borisov vowed: "We will do our best to help this important sector so that it gets sufficient EU funding."

Source: News of the World - 7 Frebruary 2010
Link: http://bit.ly/asYFbd

Study: 'Electronic cigarettes' don't deliver

"Electronic cigarettes" that vaporize nicotine juice to inhale instead of smoke from burning tobacco do not deliver as promised, according to research at Virginia Commonwealth University.

"They are as effective at nicotine delivery as puffing on an unlit cigarette," said Dr. Thomas Eissenberg, at the school's Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies.

His study, funded by the federal National Cancer Institute, is the first by American doctors to check the function of so-called "no-smoke tobacco" devices, which are unregulated in the United States for sale or use.

The units are shaped like a cigarette and contain a battery that heats a filament to vaporize liquid nicotine in a refillable cartridge. Smokers buy the devices to get around no-smoking restrictions and to attempt to quit conventional cigarettes.

Some users nickname what they're doing as "vaping" instead of smoking, to reflect the vapor produced by the heating element. The devices are marketed as an alternative to smoking, but retailers avoid making claims about health or safety.

Fans have established a Web site, www.e-cigarette-forum.com. Founder Oliver Kershaw said the site "is the largest e-smokers community online with some 26,000 members, most of whom are in the U.S."

Jimi Jackson, a former tobacco smoker in Richmond, Virginia, who sells electronic cigarettes, is convinced there are immediate health advantages in avoiding the known cancer-causing substances in the smoke of a burning cigarette.

"I smoked 37 years, and when I found them, I was, like, 'Thank, you Jesus,' " Jackson said with a laugh, as a reporter visited his shop, No Smoke Virginia, coincidentally just a few blocks from where the research was conducted at Virginia Commonwealth.

In March, the Food and Drug Administration imposed a ban on continued imports of the devices, pending regulatory review for any health risks.

The latest clinical evidence suggests users are not getting the addictive substance they get from smoking tobacco. "These e-cigs do not deliver nicotine," Eissenberg said of the findings he expects to publish in an upcoming issue of the British Medical Journal.

This past summer, Eissenberg recruited smokers without prior experience using e-cigarettes to volunteer to use two popular brands of the devices for a set period. The 16 subjects were regularly measured in a clinical setting for the presence of nicotine in their bodies, their reported craving for conventional cigarettes, and certain physiological effects such as a change in heart rate.

"Ten puffs from either of these electronic cigarettes with a 16 mg nicotine cartridge delivered little to no nicotine," the study found.

But the units may deliver hazardous chemicals, according to preliminary checks by federal regulators. In a notice to importers, the FDA blocked continued shipments after finding diethylene glycol, a chemical used in antifreeze that is toxic to humans.

The government's statement noted there are no health warnings on the products, and that "the FDA analyses detected carcinogens, including nitrosamines."

The notice of the import ban says "the product appears to be a combination drug-device," that "requires pre-approval, registration and listing with the FDA" in order to be marketed in the United States.

A company challenging the import ban claims in federal court documents to have sold 600,000 of the devices in a year's time through a network of 120 distributors in the United States.

"We are on the verge of going out of business, which is why we are suing the FDA in U.S. District Court," said Washington, attorney Kip Schwartz, representing a company called "Smoking Everywhere," a U.S. wholesaler that was importing the devices from China.

The lawsuit questions the FDA's authority to block shipments of a non-tobacco product, and says the agency has violated its statutory process for product review. Liquid nicotine is available on the open market through pharmaceutical houses and vendors who sell e-cigarettes.

A judge has yet to rule on the company's request for an injunction that would allow imports to resume. "There has been no change," said FDA spokesman Siobhan DeLancey. She said "a decision in the case is still pending, with no timeline."

President Obama, who has described himself as an occasional smoker, has been offered one of the devices by Florida Rep. Cliff Stearns. The Republican lawmaker's office said the president did not respond.

An administration spokesman last year said the White House was not aware of the offer.

In a copy of a letter to the chief executive dated March 26, Stearns wrote, "I have recently given out e-cigarettes to a few members of Congress and they have become quite a hit."

Sales of the devices continue at shopping mall kiosks and small storefront retailers, apparently drawing from stock imported before the FDA began to block shipments from overseas suppliers.

Source: CNN - 9 February 2010
Link: http://bit.ly/cjlXMi