Popular Science on Chinese Healthcare | Low-tar cigarettes, tea cigarettes, e-cigarettes... Do you still believe in these tobacco scams?

Compared with e-cigarettes, low-tar cigarettes seem to be more down-to-earth and target a relatively more mature group of smokers. Faced with the propaganda of "healthier tobacco", will mature smokers be more rational and more able to resist temptation than adolescent smokers?

As more and more people realize the scientific conclusion that smoking is harmful to health, tobacco companies have launched "low tar cigarettes" in order to protect their commercial interests and respond to the public's health panic about tobacco. They have put forward the slogan of "reducing tar and reducing harm" and claimed that "low tar equals low harm", deceiving many smokers who find it difficult to quit smoking but are concerned about the harm of smoking to their health.

Figure 1 (drawn by the author)

Tar, also known as coal paste, is a black or dark brown viscous liquid produced during the coking process of coal. It has a special odor and is flammable and corrosive. The tar in tobacco is extremely harmful to the human body.

Many advertisements promoting low-tar cigarettes capture the appearance characteristics of tar, making a visual comparison between low-tar tobacco and regular tobacco by showing the smoke produced by the burning of the two tobaccos or the tar remaining in the container after burning.

Figure 2 (Picture from the Internet)

The contrast effect shown in the picture can easily make consumers receive the signal that "low-tar tobacco is healthier", but they ignore the fact that the substances in tobacco that are harmful to human health are not only the tar visible to the naked eye, but also at least 69 carcinogens, multiple heavy metals and harmful gases.

A reduction in tar content does not mean that the content of other harmful substances is also reduced. Whether it is a high-tar cigarette or a low-tar cigarette, as long as it is a tobacco product, a large amount of harmful substances will be produced during the combustion process.

Figure 3 (drawn by the author)

Toxicological studies have shown that when the amount of tar decreases, some strong carcinogens in the tar do not decrease, such as nitrosamines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, etc. Therefore, reducing the tar content of cigarettes cannot reduce the harm of tobacco to health.

A study conducted by the National Cancer Institute of the United States on more than 900,000 men over the age of 30 found that cigarettes with a tar content of less than 14 mg per cigarette did not significantly reduce the risk of lung cancer in smokers compared with cigarettes with a tar content of 15 to 21 mg per cigarette.

In addition, a study in the Netherlands showed that the use of low-tar cigarettes causes smokers to take deeper puffs and inhale more, which may lead to an increase in the incidence of lung adenocarcinoma.

Figure 4

Once we see through the scam, we will understand that low-tar cigarettes are not a healthy alternative to regular tobacco, but a placebo that smokers use to cover up their true intentions.

Whether it is low-tar cigarettes, tea cigarettes, e-cigarettes, low-nicotine cigarettes or nicotine-free tobacco, they are all harmful to human health.

Low-nicotine or nicotine-free tobacco may even lead to "compensatory smoking". That is, after the nicotine content is reduced, smokers will take "compensatory behavior" to maintain the nicotine concentration in their bodies and smoke more. As the number of times and the amount of smoking increase, other harmful substances in the tobacco will also increase.

The key to guarding against tobacco scams such as low-tar cigarettes is to correctly understand the dangers of smoking - all tobacco products will seriously harm your health.

Smokers are also consumers of tobacco and have ample initiative and choice. Why should they jump into the trap of tobacco marketing at the painful additional cost of their health?

The best way to reduce the risk of tobacco-related diseases is for non-smokers to resolutely stop smoking and for smokers to quit smoking as soon as possible. Get rid of the entanglement of tobacco and be a health guardian with a clear mind and independent behavior!