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Summary
Sugars, in tobacco or added at the factory,
when burnt, generates in mainstream smoke the gas formaldehyde, a
well-known carcinogen.
This argues for regulations to stop adding
sugar to smoking tobacco products to sweeten cigarettes for young
people. Such regulations could further lower adolescent smoking rates.
Selecting tobacco blends for their sugar content is common
practice in cigarette manufacture. But adding sugar is something
else – adding to young peoples’ cancer risks, just to sell
more product. We do not know how much sugars
are added to NZ tobacco, but no law prevents it.
Argument
·
Sugars in
cigarettes sweeten the bitter taste of nicotine in tobacco to make it
easier to learn to smoke and keep on smoking cigarettes.
·
Sugars are the
main additive to tobacco in NZ by weight.[1]
·
Tobacco industry
scientists[5] shows sugars burnt in cigarettes
generate formaldehyde, a cancer- causing gas in cigarette
smoke.
·
Formaldehyde is
a carcinogen and in the top 9 toxicants for which WHO Tob Reg Committee has recommended reduction.[2]
·
Of 32 smokers, 29 had formaldehyde-DNA
adducts (in their white blood cells, against 7 out of 30 nonsmokers.
(p<0.001) [3]
[1]Manufacturers
returns at www.ndp.govt.nz show
that BATNZ had undertaken not to
add any more than 5.65% of sugars, syrups, honey etc. to its
cigarettes for 2008. No regulations restrict what they add or how much.
[2] Burns DM, Dybing
E, Gray N, Hecht S, Anderson C, Sanner T,
O’Connor R, Djordjevic M, Dresler C, Hainaut P,
Jarvis M, Opperhuizen A, Straif
K. Mandated lowering of toxicants in cigarette smoke: a description of
the World Health Organization TobReg
Proposal. Tobacco Control 2008; 17:132-41.
[3] Mingyao Wang, Guang Cheng, Silvia Balbo, Steven G. Carmella, Peter
W. Villalta and Stephen S. Hecht
Clear Differences in Levels of a
Formaldehyde-DNA Adduct in Leukocytes of Smokers and Nonsmokers. Cancer Research 69, 7170, September 15, 2009. Published Online
First September 8, 2009.
[4] Reinskje Talhout, Antoon Opperhuizen, Jan G.C. van Amsterdam http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez
PMID:
16904804.
[5] Baker RR. Steven Coburn and
Chuan Liu
Food
Chem Toxicol.
2006 Nov;44(11):1799-822. Epub
2006 Jun 7 PMID: 16859820
[6] http://tobacco.health.usyd.edu.au/
site/gateway/docs/pdf2/pdf/PM2000764233_4239.PDF
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Sugars as tobacco ingredient:
Effects on mainstream smoke composition [4]
References and further reading may be available for this article. To
view references and further reading you must purchase
this article.
Sugars are found in the Virginia tobacco used in NZ
cigarettes, and are also frequently added during the manufacturing
process. This review describes the fate of sugars during tobacco
smoking, in particular the effect of tobacco sugars on mainstream smoke
composition. In natural tobacco, sugars can be present in levels up
to 20 wt%. In addition, various sugars are added in tobacco
manufacturing in amounts up to 4 wt% per sugar. The added
sugars are usually reported to serve as flavour/casing
and humectant. However, sugars also promote
tobacco smoking, because they generate acids that neutralize the harsh
taste and throat impact of tobacco smoke. Moreover, the sweet taste and
the agreeable smell of caramelized sugar flavors are appreciated in
particular by starting adolescent smokers.
Finally, sugars generate
acetaldehyde, which has addictive properties and acts synergistically
with nicotine in rodents. Apart from these consumption-enhancing pyrolysis products, many toxic (including
carcinogenic) smoke compounds are generated from sugars. In
particular, sugars increase the level of formaldehyde, acetaldehyde,
acetone, acrolein, and 2-furfural in tobacco smoke. It is concluded
that sugars in tobacco significantly contribute to the adverse health
effects of tobacco smoking.
The
generation of formaldehyde in cigarettes--Overview and recent
experiments [5]
We are indebted to research
scientists at BAT
Research and Development Centre, UK, for the following information:
“..all tested sugars added
to tobacco increase the yield of formaldehyde in mainstream cigarette
smoke under ISO standard smoking machine conditions. Increases up to
60% are observed at maximum sugar levels used on cigarettes.”
The (natural) reducing sugar
content of NZ cigarettes using Virginia tobacco eg Rothmans, is
around 13 to 15%, according to a 1973 BAT document. [6]
Sugar
consumption in recent years has increased enormously – it is used
in fast food and fizzy drinks, in alcopops,
and now added to cigarettes. Only in cigarettes does sugar generate
formaldehyde.
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