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- The ingredients contained in cigarettes
and smoke for the 11-best selling brands in British Columbia were released
yesterday by the province's government. It is the first move of its kind
in North America.
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- Among the ingredients released on a B.C.
government Web site are: ammonia, acetone, mercury, hydrogen cyanide, nickel,
lead, and arsenic.
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- "Smokers have a right to know what
they are inhaling and non-smokers have a right to know what they are breathing
when they are with smokers," Penny Priddy, B.C.'s health minister,
said in a statement.
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- "B.C. is the first jurisdiction
in the world to require this sort of detailed testing and reporting on
tobacco smoke. We are also the first government to release a complete list
of ingredients the companies put in cigarettes."
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- Tobacco companies are required to disclose
the information under new provincial legislation.
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- "It certainly makes public more
of the information and indicates there are a whole host of carcinogenic,
cancer-causing substances, and other toxic substances present in cigarette
smoke," said Dr. Ray Copes, a toxicology medical specialist for the
B.C. health ministry.
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- RJR-Macdonald Inc. is challenging the
regulations in court while Imperial Tobacco, which controls seven of the
11 published brands, has previously stated it would support public disclosure
of contents.
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- Before the government's move, Imperial
Tobacco had never before released the details.
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- The brands include Du Maurier, Export
A, Matinee, and Players.
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- "Consumers for the most part are
not aware of this kind of information, like that their tar yield can increase
dramatically based on how they smoke," said Rob Cunningham, a senior
policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society.
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- "Tobacco companies have never voluntarily
given that information to consumers, so this is a very good step."
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- WHAT'S IN ONE BRAND
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- A report on cigarette additives and ingredients
and smoke constituents --Player's Light Regular:
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- Ammonia
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- 2-aminonaphthalene
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- 1-aminonaphthalene
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- 4-aminobiphenyl
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- 3-aminobiphenyl
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- Benzo(a)pyrene
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- Formaldehyde
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- Acetaldehyde
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- Acetone
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- Acrolein
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- Propionaldehyde
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- Crotonaldehyde
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- Methyl ethyl ketone
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- Butyraldehyde
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- Hydrogen Cyanide
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- Mercury
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- Nickel
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- Lead
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- Cadmium
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- Chromium
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- Arsenic
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- Selenium
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- Nitric Oxide
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- Pyridine
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- Quinoline
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- Hydroquinone
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- Resorcinol
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- Catechol
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- Phenol
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- m+p-cresol
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- o-cresol
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- Tar
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- Nicotine
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- Carbon Monoxide
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- 1,3-butadiene
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- Isoprene
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- Acrylonitrile
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- Benzene
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- Toluene
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