THURSDAY, Aug. 2 (HealthDay News) -- The tobacco industry has experimented with hundreds of additives in cigarettes that should require regulatory oversight, including 100 that may enhance the addictive effects of nicotine, sweeten the taste of tobacco, and mask the odor of secondhand smoke, according to a study published in the August issue of American Journal of Public Health.
Michael Rabinoff, D.O., Ph.D., of the UCLA School of Medicine in Los Angeles and colleagues reviewed more than 10,000 documents relating to tobacco additives obtained from 5 primary sources on the Internet, including a Tobacco Control Archives that is updated regularly.
Researchers found that cigarette additive lists are closely guarded by tobacco companies, although public disclosure confirms experiments with at least 599 chemical and botanical agents, one-sixth of which have documented pharmacological actions. Additives ranged from acetaldehyde, a carcinogen that enhances the effects of nicotine, to cocoa and chocolate for stimulating the taste buds, which researchers speculated are added to entice young people to smoke.
"The tobacco industry has actively manipulated cigarette content by using potentially hazardous chemical and phytochemical additives that should be regulated," the authors wrote. "Unregulated use of additives in tobacco products subjects billions of smokers and nonsmokers alike to an uncontrolled experiment with potentially devastating health effects."
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