A clinical study conducted by scientists at British American Tobacco has revealed that when smokers switch completely from cigarettes to the heated-tobacco product, glo, their exposure to certain cigarette smoke toxicants is significantly reduced, in some cases to levels comparable to those seen in smokers who quit smoking completely.
In a press note issued today, BAT said these results added to evidence suggesting that glo may ‘have the potential to be substantially reduced risk compared to smoking conventional cigarettes’.
‘Because glo vapor has lower levels of toxicants than cigarette smoke, it should in principle expose consumers to much less toxicants,’ the note said. ‘The results of this study indicate that this is indeed the case.’
The clinical study was conducted in Belfast, UK, over seven days and involved 150 people, all of whom were smokers for at least three years prior to enrolment.
‘For the first two days, study participants continued to smoke as normal and their urine was collected to measure levels of chemicals. Blood and breath were also collected for analysis,’ the note said.
‘For the next five days, participants were randomly allocated to either continue smoking, switch to using a THP [tobacco heating product] or quit smoking. Urine, blood and breath samples were again collected for analysis.
‘Exposure to certain smoke toxicants was determined by measuring the levels of certain chemicals in the urine. These could be the toxicants themselves or their metabolites – which is what the body breaks it down into – called biomarkers of exposure. Toxicants measured included those identified by the World Health Organization as being of concern in cigarette smoke.’
The results were said to have shown that the concentration of certain chemicals in the urine was reduced in smokers who switched to glo. In some cases, these reductions were the same as those observed in the smokers who quit.
“These results are very encouraging,’ said Dr. James Murphy, head of reduced risk substantiation at BAT. “The next step will be to determine whether this reduction in exposure translates to a reduced biological effect, and in turn a reduction in adverse health effects for those smokers who switch completely to glo.”
BAT said that future clinical studies would test for markers of biological effect, such as cholesterol levels or heart rate – measurements that give an indication of general health. A reduction in biomarkers of biological effect could suggest that a reduction in exposure is having a positive impact on reducing the adverse health risks of smokers who switch completely.
“The results of one test are important,” said Murphy, “but it is the combination of the results of many different tests that start to give us a real feel for the bigger picture and the potential for glo to be reduced risk compared to a conventional cigarette.”
The results of the clinical study are being presented today at the annual conference of the Society of Toxicology in San Antonio, Texas, US.
Category: People
Evidence building
Nicotine misunderstood
Public Health England (PHE) said yesterday that going ‘cold turkey’ was the least effective way to quit tobacco smoking.
In a note to mark No Smoking Day, PHE said that over 58 percent of smokers still tried to quit without using an aid, despite this being the least effective way.
‘A Public Health England (PHE) report highlights that public misunderstanding of the harmfulness of nicotine-containing products, such as nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and e-cigarettes, may be linked to inaccurate and confused perception of the risks of nicotine,’ the note said.
‘The risks of nicotine use are likely to be very low or negligible. NRT is safe and licenced for use in pregnancy and for people with cardiovascular disease. And there is now wide international consensus that e-cigarettes are far less harmful than smoking. It is the cocktail of deadly chemicals in cigarette smoke, including tar and carbon monoxide, which causes almost all of the harm of smoking.
‘Four in 10 smokers and ex-smokers incorrectly think that nicotine in cigarettes is the cause of most of the smoking-related cancer. Understanding of the harms of nicotine among the general population is similarly poor…’
The PHE note is at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/four-in-10-smokers-incorrectly-think-nicotine-causes-cancer.Reducing risk
A new laboratory-based study has shown that when airway cells damaged by cigarette smoke are exposed instead to vapor from the heated-tobacco product, glo, some of the biological effects caused by the smoke exposure are reversed.
Basically, subsequent exposure of cigarette-smoke-impacted cells to glo vapor had a similar effect to their subsequent exposure to air – the cells were able to maintain their ability to repair themselves.
In a press note, British American Tobacco said that the vapor produced by glo contained about 90-95 percent less of certain toxicants than did cigarette smoke.
The company said that previous studies had shown that the biological impact of glo vapor on cells tested in the laboratory was much less than the impact of cigarette smoke on similar cells. But, it added, the reversibility of the damage following switching to a product such as glo had not been extensively studied.
“Products like glo are very new, so understanding the biological impact of vapor from glo and how that compares to cigarette smoke is a core component of our scientific research,” said Dr. James Murphy, head of reduced risk substantiation at BAT.
In the study, human airway cells were exposed repeatedly to either cigarette smoke or vapor over four weeks. For the first two weeks, the lung tissue was exposed to cigarette smoke for 15 minutes at a time, three times a week. The exposed tissue was then split into three groups: one group continued to be exposed repeatedly only to cigarette smoke for a further two weeks; a second group was exposed repeatedly to glo vapor and the third group was exposed only to air. The results obtained were then compared to results obtained by exposing airway tissue only to air for the full four weeks.
‘The results show that switching completely to glo after two weeks of repeated exposure to cigarette smoke reversed some of the biological impacts of the smoke,’ the press note said. ‘Significant reductions were observed in the amount of certain molecules produced in response to inflammation, for example, in comparison to that seen in lung tissue exposed to cigarette smoke for the full four-week period.’
BAT said the results added to evidence suggesting that glo might have the potential to be reduced risk compared to conventional cigarettes.
“We have developed a suite of tests to assess our next generation products, because we know it is by taking the results of all these tests together that gives us a real feel for the bigger picture and the potential for glo to be reduced risk compared to a conventional cigarette,” said Murphy.
The results are being presented today at the annual conference of the Society of Toxicology in San Antonio, Texas, US.Reducing risk reduction
A smokers’ lobby group has criticised the UK government’s plan, revealed yesterday, to introduce an excise tax on heated tobacco products.
According to the government, the duty on these products will be based on the weight of tobacco in the product.
“Heated tobacco may not be as safe as electronic cigarettes but current evidence suggests there is almost certain to be a reduction in risk for cigarette smokers,” said Simon Clark (pictured), director of Forest [Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco].
“Why would any government want to undermine the future of a product that may encourage smokers to quit voluntary and without coercion?”
Clark pointed out that many smokers who tried electronic-cigarettes found they didn’t like them. The attraction of heated tobacco was that it filled the gap between combustible cigarettes and e-cigarettes, which don’t contain tobacco.
“Heated tobacco products are still in their infancy,” he said. “Adding excise duty will almost certainly deter many smokers from switching to a potentially safer device.”Pyrrhic victory
The Israeli Knesset’s Finance Committee has approved a measure to tax heated-tobacco products such as Philip Morris International’s IQOS at 65 percent of the retail price, in line with the tax on cigarettes, according to a story by Chana Roberts for Arutz Sheva, relayed by the TMA.
Anti-smoking groups Avir Naki and Smoke Free Israel, and bipartisan members of the Knesset (MK), had been lobbying the Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and the Finance Committee head Moshe Gafni to tax these products.
The groups and the Likud MK Yehuda Glick had asked the Supreme Court to force Kahlon to tax IQOS as cigarettes “until there is substantial, and substantiated, proof that IQOS are not as harmful as regular cigarettes.”
The new tax is expected to generate NIS120 million (US$34. million) annually.
Meanwhile, PMI was said to have emphasized that the company would concentrate on ‘rolling tobacco’ instead of products claimed to be a ‘better alternative’ to regular cigarettes.Tobacco abandoned
Farmers in Tanzania’s Ruvuma Region have significantly improved their livelihoods and health after abandoning tobacco in favor of more profitable crops, according to a story in The Daily News.
Tobacco was said to have trapped the farmers in a vicious cycle of poverty and to have increased deforestation.
The Executive Officer of the Tanzania Tobacco Control Forum, Lutgard Kagaruki, said that more than 70 percent of tobacco growers had abandoned the crop in favor of alternatives such as maize, paddy and legumes, which had proved to surpass tobacco in respect of the total net profit and rates of return they engendered.
Kagaruki said data from Namtumbo District Council indicated that between 2006 and 2014 there had been increased tonnage of both food and cash crops, though a decrease in tobacco production.
Tobacco production had increased by 587 percent from 2006 to 2009 but had dropped by 491 percent between 2010 and 2014.
The News story said there had been considerable debate in recent years about the social, environmental and economic impact of tobacco growing. While Tanzania remained a poor country, it said, tobacco growers were ‘worse off’.
At the same time, the country was losing more than 61,000 ha of forest annually because of tobacco growing and curing.
Despite tobacco’s being a vital foreign currency earner, most local growers of the crop were languishing in abject poverty with nothing tangible to show for their hard work.Declarations made
The World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCTH) has called upon governments to develop plans by 2021 for phasing out the sale of tobacco products.
In a statement, the WCTH, which held its 17th conference in Cape Town, South Africa, on March 7-9, also made 10 declarations.
In a preamble to the declarations, the WCTH said the tobacco epidemic represented one of the biggest public health threats the world had ever faced.
‘Tobacco use kills more than seven million people each year, and the vast majority of these deaths take place in low- and middle-income countries.
‘The global economic cost of smoking amounts to nearly two trillion dollars and two percent of the worlds GDP in 2016.
‘Tobacco use also undermines sustainable development, imposing a huge burden on the global economy, exacerbating poverty, contributing to food insecurity, and harming the environment.
‘There is an irreconcilable conflict between the manufacture and marketing of tobacco products and the right to health.
‘The tobacco industry is a driver of poverty and linked to child labor, violation of workers’ rights, food insecurity and exploitation of farmers. African governments need to take concrete and urgent action to implement alternative livelihoods that are the rich sources of income free from tobacco.
‘Ending the scourge of tobacco and achieving the SDGs [sustainable development goals] will require urgent action.
‘Therefore the 17th World Conference on Tobacco or Health affirms the following:- We call on governments to unite with civil society to stop tobacco industry interference and accelerate implementation of the WHO FCTC [World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control] using a whole-of-government approach.
- We urge governments, scientists, research entities, foundations, and civil-society organizations to reject or cease engagement with the Philip Morris International-funded Foundation for a Smokefree World and other initiatives of the tobacco industry
- We adopt the Cape Town Declaration on Human Rights and a Tobacco-free World (https://unfairtobacco.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Cape-Town-Declaration_Human-Rights_Tobacco-free-World-1.pdf).
- We call on African governments to operationalize the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on financing for development that recommends increasing tobacco taxes as an untapped, sustainable domestic resource mobilization strategy, for accelerating the implementation of the WHO FCTC in Africa.
- We call on Parties to actively engage in the development of the WHO FCTC Medium Term Strategic Framework and Plan and to endorse them at the forthcoming eighth session of the Conference of the Parties of the WHO FCTC.
- We support the concept of a tobacco-free generation and commit to empowering youth involvement and advocacy as a means to achieving a tobacco-free world (http://wctoh.org/news/youth-pre-conference-delegates-unite-to-build-a-tobacco-free-generation/).
- We call on Finance Ministers to actively support the WCTOH 2018 Declarations by prioritizing sustainable funding for tobacco control and ceasing public and private investment in the tobacco industry.
- We call on governments to extend as a priority, fiscal policies to continually decrease the affordability and accessibility of tobacco products
- We call on the Parties to the WHO FCTC to integrate gender-based data-collection and reporting into Party reports to the Conference of the Parties [COP] on their implementation of the WHO FCTC by COP9.
- We call upon the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to align with the decision of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and end its collaboration with the tobacco industry immediately.’
Upbeat in Andhra Pradesh
Flue-cured tobacco growers in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh were said to have been paid ‘fairly good’ prices during the first two days of this season’s auction sales, which opened on March 8 in the traditional growing areas of the Southern Light Soil region.
According to a story in the latest issue of the BBM Bommidala Group newsletter, growers were paid an average of Rs160 per kg during the early sales.
But prices are expected to increase once sales come to an end in the other flue-cured-tobacco state, Karnataka, towards the end of this month or early next month.
The auctions began on an optimistic note for growers in part because international companies are being allowed this season to participate directly in the sales, after registering as exporters or dealers.
Growers are looking for ‘remunerative’ prices of Rs176 per kg for bright grades and a minimum of Rs100 per kg for low-grade leaf.
The optimism has been caused also by the quality of the crop, which is said to comprise a majority of bright grades.
The Tobacco Board of India set the authorized crop size for Andhra’s 2017-18 season at 136 million kg.
Sales in the Southern Black Soil region of Andhra are due to start on March 19.
Meanwhile, in Karnataka, the average price stood at Rs150 per kg with more than 88 million kg sold against an authorized crop of 99 million kg.
Following 141 days of auctions, growers had sold 18.42 million kg of bright-grade leaf for an average of Rs161.97 per kg, 41.26 million kg of medium-grade tobacco for an average of Rs148.29 per kg, and 28.58 million kg of low-grade leaf for an average of Rs115.02 per kg.Illegal activity recorded
As part of its ‘Suspect It? Report It!’ campaign to combat the illegal trade in tobacco, Imperial Brands has launched a mobile app for its UK representatives to log reports by retailers of sales of illicit tobacco products in their areas, according to a betterReailing.com story.
After only two months of operation, the new system is said to have increased the reporting of illegal activities by about tenfold. The system operates through the SARA (Scanning, Analysis, Response, and Evaluation) problem-solving model, which is a common approach used by community policing agencies to identify and solve repeat crimes and community problems.
More than 300 reports had been filed so far in 2018.
Better Retailing said that the strategy had already paid off, with seven successful raids by police and trading standards officers as a result of the evidence passed on through the SARA system.
In addition, more than 50 Facebook advertisements offering illicit tobacco had been removed.
Imperial anti-illicit trade manager James Hall was quoted as telling Retail Express that with all of the data being recorded in one central digital database, Imperial’s Insights & Intelligence team could track and analyse both national and regional patterns much more robustly.Activists threatened
Several tobacco-control advocates told last week’s 17th World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Cape Town, South Africa, of the violence or threats they faced as they fought the expansion of smoking in their countries, according to a story by Donald G. McNeil Jr. for the New York Times.
Eight years ago, more than a dozen men with AK-47s shot their way into Akinbode Oluwafemi’s home in Lagos, Nigeria. They killed his house guard and his brother-in-law, and briefly held a muzzle to the head of one of his year-old twins.
“I do not know why I was not killed that day,” said Oluwafemi, who as deputy director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria has been one of his country’s leading antismoking activists.
None of the victims, who spoke at the conference in telephone conversations, could prove that the men assaulting or threatening them worked for the tobacco industry.
But the pattern was said to be consistent.
They were first quietly warned that they were upsetting cigarette companies, tobacco farmers or government officials connected to the industry.
And if the activists persisted, threats or violence escalated suddenly and unpredictably.
McNeil’s story is at: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/12/health/antismoking-activists-threats.html?emc=edit_tnt_20180312&nlid=60534081&tntemail0=y
