SIGHTINGS


 
Cigarettes Contain: Acetone,
Mercury, Hydrogen Cyanide,
Lead, And Arsenic.
Tom Arnold
National Post
Vancouver, BC
12-18-98
 
 
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.
 
Among the ingredients released on a B.C. government Web site are: ammonia, acetone, mercury, hydrogen cyanide, nickel, lead, and arsenic.
 
"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.
 
"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."
 
Tobacco companies are required to disclose the information under new provincial legislation.
 
"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.
 
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.
 
Before the government's move, Imperial Tobacco had never before released the details.
 
The brands include Du Maurier, Export A, Matinee, and Players.
 
"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.
 
"Tobacco companies have never voluntarily given that information to consumers, so this is a very good step."
 
WHAT'S IN ONE BRAND
 
A report on cigarette additives and ingredients and smoke constituents --Player's Light Regular:
 
Ammonia
 
2-aminonaphthalene
 
1-aminonaphthalene
 
4-aminobiphenyl
 
3-aminobiphenyl
 
Benzo(a)pyrene
 
Formaldehyde
 
Acetaldehyde
 
Acetone
 
Acrolein
 
Propionaldehyde
 
Crotonaldehyde
 
Methyl ethyl ketone
 
Butyraldehyde
 
Hydrogen Cyanide
 
Mercury
 
Nickel
 
Lead
 
Cadmium
 
Chromium
 
Arsenic
 
Selenium
 
Nitric Oxide
 
Pyridine
 
Quinoline
 
Hydroquinone
 
Resorcinol
 
Catechol
 
Phenol
 
m+p-cresol
 
o-cresol
 
Tar
 
Nicotine
 
Carbon Monoxide
 
1,3-butadiene
 
Isoprene
 
Acrylonitrile
 
Benzene
 
Toluene





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