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In 2009,
the Food and Drug Administration gained authority to regulate tobacco products,
and now they will soon be exercising that ability. Already releasing
preliminary guidelines for the tobacco industry that can educate consumers on
exactly what is in cigarettes, the FDA is making it so tobacco companies will
have to report on the amount of harmful and unsafe ingredients used in their
products.
Within one
year, the FDA plans to share information on chemical amounts, while tobacco
makers will be required to report on the amount of 93 substances used in their
products. This means that harmful ingredients used such as ammonia and
formaldehyde will need to be made known to the public. This decision will
certainly ignite a slew of ingredient-based information regarding tobacco
products.
“We are forging new territory to ensure
that tobacco companies provide accurate information and do not mislead American
consumers. We are committed to stopping such practices that may cause people to
start or continue using tobacco products that could lead to preventable disease
and death,” FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said in a statement.
There are
over 4,000 individual compounds identified in tobacco and tobacco smoke, with
at least 60 of them being known carcinogens. How would you feel after finding
out that with every cigarette comes a dose of insecticide, car exhaust, gas
chamber poison, ant poison, floor cleaner, mothballs, and nuclear weapon
material? The fact is, there are hundreds of chemicals in tobacco products (and
cigarettes especially) that people don’t even know about.
Insecticide – nicotine
Car exhaust – carbon monoxide
Gas chamber poison – hydrogen cyanide
Ant poison – ammonia
Mothballs – naphthalene
Nuclear power – radioactive compounds
While this
kind of information won’t be responsible for ending the bad habit of smoking
for the majority of individuals, it may serve to kick the habit for many. Even
while smoking and tobacco use is already known to cause various cancers such as
lung cancer, throat cancer, and stomach cancer, the health damaging aspects of
smoking aren’t enough for people to quit. But now, seeing “formaldehyde”,
“lead”, and “arsenic” on the label may just be enough to cause many people to
finally quit smoking and tobacco use.
(Natural Society)
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