EnglishA strange story of filters
Filtrona, Supplier to Philip Morris, First Accepts Then Refuses to Produce for Yesmoke.
“… it seems that fragments of acetate and cellulose are released during the drawing. These deposit in the lungs and in the long term, in combination with the condensate, cause alterations of the lung cells. The active carbon filters, too, release carbon particles.” This is written on the Yesmoke.ch site.
Information on cigarettes is allowed, but that on the filters must be "politically correct". This is, in fact, the position of Filtrona SA, the world's principal filter manufacturer and supplier to Philip Morris and other multi-national cigarette companies.
—Those who declare certain things to the public cannot buy filters from us— said Luca Calciolari, head of Filtrona for Italy and Switzerland.
Yesmoke Tobacco, in fact, had selected Filtrona as its new carbon filter supplier for its YESMOKES and for its new BORN TO SMOKE brand. After meetings and technical discussions, at the last moment, here was their refusal.
So after the removal from the market of all the first Yesmokes, distributed experimentally in the shops of Italian Switzerland, because of the "Smoke better" written on the packs, the company now finds itself, unexpectedly, without a filter supplier because of what is written on its web site.
So the distribution of the brands will be delayed.
Yesmoke Tobacco is completing the creation of its brands: the new Yesmoke, and Born to Smoke, a new brand.
Selecting the filter:
- After defining the mix of tobaccos we prepare some samples of the cigarette without filters;
- The assessment of the tar and nicotine, conducted in specialized centers, determines what type of filter must be added to the cigarette to conform to the prescribed tar and nicotine levels.
The facts
Yesmoke contacted Filtrona at the end of February. The first meeting was held in Milan with Luca Calciolari, at the time officially responsible for Italy and for Switzerland, on the end of the month. We discussed the various types of filters.
The expanded stems are added to tobacco blends to fill out the cigarettes and cut costs
But on April 4th, the surprise: “We have noted that on your site you talk about possible fragments of acetate and cellulose released during the drawing" Luca Calciolari tells us. W're sorry, Filtrona cannot sell filters to Yesmoke Tobacco.”
Also the request made to the European Director, Tim Preston, at the central London headquarters gave the same response. Mr. Preston did not answer Yesmoke directly, but immediately called Calciolari, and through him confirmed the company's decision.
Was it the order of customer Number One Philip Morris? Could the scanty information given by Yesmoke.ch on the possible harm to health due to filters, all information readily available on internet, have possibly determined the second thoughts of Filtrona? Is all this credible?
“The incriminated sentences”
After lengthy research, we discover that Big Tobacco, like Yesmoke, also fulfills its duty to inform people on issues regarding filters. But it does not do it on the site that speaks of cigarettes; it does it on the Altria.com site.
On the pages of the Altria.com site, Big Tobacco, basically says the same things written by Yesmoke, but adds with extreme certainty that: “…these fibers are not a risk for human lung disease". Yesmoke.ch reports on its INFO that "It seems that fragments of acetate and cellulose are released during the drawing…”
On its site, Philipmorrisusa.com, where there is no mention of possible “…Fragments of acetate and cellulose released during the drawing”, it lists all the ingredients of the filters, from the first to the last.
The shareholders ask for clarity
April 29, 2004, here is what the shareholders report at the annual meeting:
- A 2002 publication disclosed that Philip Morris has documented the "fall-out" of cellulose acetate fibers from filter cigarettes. Philip Morris, however, has not published the results of its studies. (Tobacco Control).
- A 2002 publication by the Eastman Chemical Company has documented that cellulose acetate fibers are released from the filters of all commercial cigarettes (Inhalation Toxicology, 2002).
Published surveys have shown that smokers are unaware of the release of fibers and particles from cigarette filters. Greater than 95% of current smokers and former smokers queried believe that tobacco companies should disclose this information (Tobacco Control, 2001).
“As a matter of product stewardship, our company is obligated to test cigarette filters for material released into mainstream smoke and to disclose this information to investors and uninformed smokers if there is reason to believe such poses heretofore unreported health risks by the Company.”
The shareholders come to this conclusion
“Shareholders request our Company to create an independent panel of outside experts to issue a report on the issue.”
“The report shall include the tests identified previously by Philip Morris. The findings should be prepared at a reasonable cost and made available in an appropriate manner before the Company's 2005 Annual Meeting.”
Philip Morris's answer to its shareholders
“The Board recommends a vote AGAINST this proposal.”
—It has been reported for years in scientific literature that cellulose acetate fibers can sometimes “fall out” of cigarette filters and enter mainstream smoke. The 2002 article published in the scientific journal, Inhalation Toxicology concluded that: “Our findings indicate that these fibers are not a risk for human lung disease.”
—2000 – In a published book, the Institute of Medicine stated about fiber “fall out” from cellulose acetate cigarette filters: “This chapter has not reviewed the risks due to fibers released from cigarette filters or tobacco additives, because it is thought the risk from these exposures is substantially less than the risk from tobacco smoke constituents. However, there are no existing data to prove this assumption.”
“PM USA and PMI continue to investigate the possibility of filter materials being present in the mainstream smoke of their cigarettes and to assess the toxicological relevance, if any, of such materials to smokers. For these reasons, the Board recommends a vote against this proposal.”
But is the filter harmful to health?
Why economize on Information? It is possible that microscopic particles of the filter can be deposited in the smokers lungs after some decades of fidelity to a favorite brand and to its filter.
Just as there can be present particles of a mattress where we sleep or of the desk where we work, to say nothing of the air we breathe in the streets!
All this cannot be a serious danger for our health, and in any case, no one would dream of smoking cigarettes without filters to damage themselves less.
It's a problem of attitude
Consumers today must be very cautious, especially regarding the new generation of so-called “reduced risk” products that the tobacco industry is rolling out.
Studies show that “The tobacco industry has been derelict in concealing information of filter defects”, in the past. Today, by boycotting Yesmoke, guilty of having published information that was taken from the NY State Journal of Medicine, they are demonstrating the same attitude: their interest is not to protect the public health but to maximize their own profits.
Yesmoke Tobacco, in the meantime, is looking for a new filter supplier.
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