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Italiano What is there in American Cigarettes?
Aside from the lawsuits of relatives of smokers who died prematurely, Big Tobacco is not having a bad time in the States, where it is freer than in Europe.
Chemical formula of the "Crack nicotina"
Based on its top-secret criteria, Philip Morris decides on the doses of chemical additives most suitable for each country, to be used in its cigarettes. But which are the worst cigarettes, those sold in the third world or those smoked in the streets of New York?
Tobacco imported into the USA is not subjected any inspections. Nitrosamine, ammonia, pesticides, nicotine… . The cigarettes smoked in America repeatedly record the highest values.
The Tobacco
The way tobacco is treated gives a good idea of the power that cigarette manufacturers have acquired in these past years. We are faced with an incredible situation, that takes America back to the times of Al Capone.
A law approved by Congress on October 17th 2004 eliminated the obligation of inspections of imported tobacco.
Are foreign growers lowering their production costs by using DDT?
These inspections had been set up to keep any products out of the country that were treated with pesticides that are banned in the USA but that may be authorized in other countries.
American tobacco growers now say that they would like guarantees that their foreign competitors are not lowering their production costs by using pesticides like DDT. But they have to trust the word of Big Tobacco, because the necessary inspections have been abolished
U.S. to Quit Inspecting Tobacco for Banned Chemicals and Pesticides - The Associated Press, October 17, 2004
Nicotine
If the cigarette is a "nicotine dispenser", the American cigarette is a better dispenser. While in the European Union, the maximum nicotine level allowed by law is 1 mg., in the USA the limit is 1.8 mg.
But for American manufacturers, this is not enough and they do not respect this limit. Big Tobacco, in fact, would be good at getting around an improbable “anti-doping examination”: ammonia technology.
Nitrosamines
We will let the Washington Post speak, otherwise in Italy no one would believe us…
The Washington Post - 31 May 2003: Marlboro, the most popular cigarette in America and in the world, has a considerably higher level of a powerful carcinogenic compound compared practically to all the cigarettes produced by local companies in the world.
In a new study of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers found that the level of nitrosamine was almost double in Marlboros compared to local cigarettes in 10 of the 13 nations tested by the CDC. In some countries, the nitrosamine level was up to 22 times higher than in the local cigarettes.
Nitrosamine is a chemical compound derived from nicotine. It is considered by major scientists to be one of the two most powerful carcinogenic agents in tobacco smoke. The study of the CDC, published today in the Journal of Tobacco and Nicotine Research, is the first that documents the significant damage to health caused by the greater content of nitrosamine in American cigarettes.
The popularity of Marlboros, and their high nitrosamine content could be two related characteristics, because it is the type of tobacco and the way it is treated that gives the typical taste to the American cigarette.
David Ashley, who works for the CDC National Center for Environmental Health and is the author of the report, has stated that “It is not only Marlboros, but most American cigarettes have considerably high nitrosamine levels.
Articles regarding the nitrosamine scandal
- Study Shows More Carcinogens in Marlboros Than Non-U.S. Brands – May, 30, 2003 – Los Angeles Times: Marlboro cigarettes, the world's most popular brand, contained much higher levels of some cancer-causing substances than non-U.S. brands sold abroad, according to a new study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…
- Marlboros High in One Carcinogen, Study Says – May, 30, 2003 – The Washington Post: Marlboro cigarettes, the nation's and the world's most popular brand, have considerably higher levels of a potent cancer-causing compound than almost all other cigarettes produced by local tobacco companies around the world…
- Levels of carcinogen higer in Marlboro cigarettes – June, 10, 2003 – Reuters: Marlboro, the world's No. 1 selling brand of cigarettes, contains significantly higher levels of a cancer-causing agent than its rivals when purchased in many of the largest markets overseas, U.S. scientists say. Tests by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the U.S. brand contained higher amounts of tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) than other locally available cigarettes in 11 of 13 countries.
- Study: Foreign Cigs Healthier – May, 30, 2003 – CBS: American-made cigarettes such as Marlboros contain up to twice as much of a cancer-causing chemical as foreign brands, federal health officials said Friday.
- Nicotine – Worse Than We Thought? – June, 1, 2003 – ScienceDaily Magazine: Phillip Dennis and colleagues at the US National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, have studied the effect of nicotine and the nicotine-derived nitrosamine NKK on normal lung epithelial cells--i.e. those cells that are exposed to inhaled smoke and in which lung cancer starts.
- PM USA Working to Reduce TSNAs – June 2, 2003 – CSP: Philip Morris USA said that although a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control found higher levels of tobacco specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) in Marlboro cigarettes, the study also found that the level of TSNAs in Marlboro is not significantly different from a comparison brand purchased in the U.S.
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