Liane M Schneller1, Benjamin A Zwierzchowski1, Rosalie V Caruso1, Qiang Li2, Jiang Yuan3, Geoffrey T Fong4, Richard J O'Connor1. 1. Department of Health Behavior, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York, USA. 2. Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, People's Republic of China. 3. Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, People's Republic of China. 4. Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Toronto, Ontario, Canada School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: China is home to the greatest number of smokers as well as the greatest number of smoking-related deaths. An active and growing market of cigarettes marketed as 'light' or 'low tar' may keep health-concerned smokers from quitting, wrongly believing that such brands are less harmful. OBJECTIVE: This study sought to observe changes in cigarette design characteristics and reported tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide (TNCO) levels in a sample of cigarette brands obtained in seven Chinese cities from 2009 to 2012. METHODS: Cigarettes were purchased and shipped to Roswell Park Cancer Institute, where 91 pairs of packs were selected for physical cigarette design characteristic testing and recording of TNCO values. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS, and was initially characterised using descriptive statistics, correlations and generalised estimating equations to observe changes in brand varieties over time. FINDINGS: Reported TNCO values on packs saw mean tar, nicotine and CO levels decrease from 2009 to 2012 by 7.9%, 4.5% and 6.0%, respectively. Ventilation was the only cigarette design feature that significantly changed over time (p<0.001), with an increase of 31.7%. Significant predictors of tar and CO yield overall were ventilation and per-cigarette tobacco weight, while for nicotine tobacco moisture was also an independent predictor of yield. CONCLUSIONS: The use of ventilation to decrease TNCO emissions is misleading smokers to believe that they are smoking a 'light/low' tar cigarette that is healthier, and is potentially forestalling the quitting behaviours that would begin to reduce the health burden of tobacco in China, and so should be prohibited. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/
BACKGROUND: China is home to the greatest number of smokers as well as the greatest number of smoking-related deaths. An active and growing market of cigarettes marketed as 'light' or 'low tar' may keep health-concerned smokers from quitting, wrongly believing that such brands are less harmful. OBJECTIVE: This study sought to observe changes in cigarette design characteristics and reported tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide (TNCO) levels in a sample of cigarette brands obtained in seven Chinese cities from 2009 to 2012. METHODS: Cigarettes were purchased and shipped to Roswell Park Cancer Institute, where 91 pairs of packs were selected for physical cigarette design characteristic testing and recording of TNCO values. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS, and was initially characterised using descriptive statistics, correlations and generalised estimating equations to observe changes in brand varieties over time. FINDINGS: Reported TNCO values on packs saw mean tar, nicotine and CO levels decrease from 2009 to 2012 by 7.9%, 4.5% and 6.0%, respectively. Ventilation was the only cigarette design feature that significantly changed over time (p<0.001), with an increase of 31.7%. Significant predictors of tar and CO yield overall were ventilation and per-cigarette tobacco weight, while for nicotinetobacco moisture was also an independent predictor of yield. CONCLUSIONS: The use of ventilation to decrease TNCO emissions is misleading smokers to believe that they are smoking a 'light/low' tar cigarette that is healthier, and is potentially forestalling the quitting behaviours that would begin to reduce the health burden of tobacco in China, and so should be prohibited. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/
Entities:
Keywords:
Low/Middle income country; Public policy; Surveillance and monitoring
Authors: Quan Gan; Wei Lu; Jiying Xu; Xinjian Li; Maciej Goniewicz; Neal L Benowitz; Stanton A Glantz Journal: Tob Control Date: 2010-05-27 Impact factor: 7.552
Authors: Richard J O'Connor; Qiang Li; W Edryd Stephens; David Hammond; Tara Elton-Marshall; K Michael Cummings; Gary A Giovino; Geoffrey T Fong Journal: Tob Control Date: 2010-10 Impact factor: 7.552
Authors: Richard J O'Connor; Liane M Schneller; Rosalie V Caruso; W Edryd Stephens; Qiang Li; Jiang Yuan; Geoffrey T Fong Journal: Tob Control Date: 2014-10-21 Impact factor: 7.552
Authors: Tara Elton-Marshall; Geoffrey T Fong; Hua-Hie Yong; Ron Borland; Steve Shaowei Xu; Anne C K Quah; Guoze Feng; Yuan Jiang Journal: Tob Control Date: 2014-11-04 Impact factor: 7.552
Authors: Dana Mowls Carroll; Katelyn M Tessier; K Michael Cummings; Richard J O'Connor; Sarah Reisinger; Peter G Shields; Irina S Stepanov; Xianghua Luo; Dorothy K Hatsukami; Vaughan W Rees Journal: Tob Control Date: 2021-12-02 Impact factor: 6.953
Authors: Dana M Carroll; Irina Stepanov; Richard O'Connor; Xianghua Luo; K Michael Cummings; Vaughan W Rees; Warren K Bickel; Micah L Berman; David L Ashley; Maansi Bansal-Travers; Peter G Shields; Dorothy K Hatsukami Journal: Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev Date: 2020-10-22 Impact factor: 4.090