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  • USN&WR Runs Down Last Week’s Federal Cuts

    USN&WR Runs Down Last Week’s Federal Cuts

    Today, U.S. News and World Report is running down the major anti-smoking efforts that have been shut down or paused by the U.S. government, most notably the CDC’s popular “Tips From Former Smokers” ad campaign. The program, which began in 2012, features real people who suffered health damage from smoking.

    “We estimate the Tips campaign generated nearly 2.1 million additional calls to 1-800-QUIT-NOW during 2012-2023,” researchers wrote. The CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, which led work on smoking cessation and research into youth tobacco use, was also cut. Now, with the CDC’s tobacco office staff cut, the campaign may go off the air, a former employee said.

    Former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden, now president of the global health organization Resolve to Save Lives, called the decision a “gift to Big Tobacco.” He told NBC News that, “the only winner here is the tobacco industry and cancer cells.”

    Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) made major cuts to tobacco control offices at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dozens of workers were let go, including Brian King, the FDA’s top tobacco regulator.

    In 2023, the CDC gave more than $84 million to state health departments to run quitlines and help smokers quit. Thirteen states may lose at least 30% of their funding, and five states — Connecticut, New Jersey, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia — rely on the CDC for at least 75% of their quitline support, NBC News said.

    Other losses include research projects on tobacco use and the National Youth Tobacco Survey, which tracks smoking and vaping trends among teens. This survey first identified a spike in youth vaping in 2018.

    Kevin Caron, another fired CDC employee, helped trace the deadly 2019 vaping outbreak to vitamin E acetate in fake THC vapes. He said at least five major research projects may end “unless people just independently decide in their free time that they’re going to try to work on them.”

    Despite the cuts, HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said tobacco efforts would continue and that the move was part of a larger plan to “streamline operations, enhance responsiveness to the American people, and ultimately improve the nation’s health as part of the Make America Healthy Again initiative.”

  • Study: Airborne Ultrasound Damages Tobacco  

    Study: Airborne Ultrasound Damages Tobacco  

    Ultrasound is a powerful tool with diverse applications in medical diagnostics (diagnostic sonography), therapeutics (treatment of soft tissue ailments), industry (cleaning, welding, cutting, shaping, separating, mixing, etc.), and agriculture. Airborne power ultrasound is a green technology with significant potential for food and environmental applications. For example, the exposure of soybean seeds to the airborne ultrasound increased water uptake without altering the morphology and the wettability of the seed coat; the implication of ultrasound increased the yield rate constant for the ultrasound extraction of saponins from alfalfa leaves almost two times more than that of routine heat-reflux methods; and ultrasound has been widely used to reduce the energy consumption and drying time of herbs.

    A recent study by the Department of Plant Biology at Tarbiat Modares University in Iran was conducted to elucidate the physiological responses of plant cells to airborne ultrasound in tobacco plants. Homogeneous suspension-cultured tobacco cells were subjected to airborne ultrasound at 24 kHz in two pulsatile and continuous modes for 10 and 20 seconds. The study’s outcome revealed that airborne ultrasound triggered the production of H2O2, elevated internal calcium concentration, and reduced antioxidant capacity upon cavitation. Alteration of covalently bound peroxidase and other wall-modifying enzyme activities was accompanied by reduced cellulose, pectin, and hemicellulose B but increased lignin and hemicellulose A. The biomass and viability of tobacco cells were also significantly decreased by airborne ultrasound, which ultimately resulted in programmed cell death and secondary necrosis. The results highlight the potential risks of even short-time exposure to the airborne ultrasound on plant physiology and cell wall chemical composition raising significant concerns about its implications.

    In conclusion, even short exposures to ultrasound can be damaging to tobacco plants, meaning growers should evaluate sound pollution effects on the plant’s living status. Various machines act as sources of airborne ultrasound, including high-frequency cutting tools, ultrasonic cleaners, welding equipment, and some laboratory and medical instruments such as fans, compressors, air handling units, transformers, high-voltage power lines, and electrical discharge machining.