Study Says Big Tobacco Covered Up Info on Cancer
Risk
09/30/11
FRIDAY, Sept. 30 (HealthDay News) -- A new study claims that
tobacco companies knew for years that cigarette smoke contained
dangerous and potentially deadly radioactivity but purposefully
didn't let the public know.
A representative of one of the tobacco companies, however, said
it is "illogical" to say that the existence of the radioactivity
was secret or covered up.
The study authors said that their analysis of internal tobacco
industry documents shows company researchers long knew about the
risk of radioactivity and began investigating its health risk some
five decades ago.
The risk comes from the isotope polonium-210, which emits
radiation and can be found in all commercially available domestic
and foreign cigarette brands, the study's first author, Hrayr S.
Karagueuzian, a professor of cardiology at the University of
California, Los Angeles Cardiovascular Research Laboratory, said in
a news release provided by the university.
"The documents show that the industry was well aware of the presence of a radioactive substance in tobacco as early as 1959," the study authors wrote. "Furthermore, the industry was not only cognizant of the potential 'cancerous growth' in the lungs of regular smokers, but also did quantitative radiobiological calculations to estimate the long-term lung radiation absorption dose of ionizing alpha particles emitted from cigarette smoke."
"They knew that the cigarette smoke was radioactive way back then and that it could potentially result in cancer, and they deliberately kept that information under wraps," Karagueuzian said. "Specifically, we show here that the industry used misleading statements to obfuscate the hazard of ionizing alpha particles to the lungs of smokers and, more importantly, banned any and all publication on tobacco smoke radioactivity."
The study noted that the tobacco industry also declined to do
things that could have helped rid their products of
polonium-210.
The researchers said they came to their conclusions after
reviewing documents from Philip Morris; R.J. Reynolds; Lorillard,
Brown & Williamson; the American Tobacco Company; The Tobacco
Institute; and the Council for Tobacco Research, among others.
Representatives of several of the tobacco companies didn't
return messages seeking comment. A spokeswoman for British American
Tobacco (which bought American Tobacco Company and previously owned
Brown & Williamson) debunked the study's claims in an
interview.
"Scientific studies into radioactive substances in tobacco began in the 1950s and continued since that time," said the spokeswoman, Marina Murphy. "From the 1950s to 1990, over 100 papers had been published investigating the radioactivity present in tobacco and tobacco smoke, with the majority of these focused on polonium-210. It is therefore illogical to claim that the presence of polonium-210 in tobacco has been covered up or is a secret."
The new study was released online this week in advance of
publication in an upcoming print issue of the journal
Nicotine & Tobacco Research.
More information
The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more on
smoking.
Copyright © 2011
HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.