Cigarette Makers Try to Mask Secondhand Smoke OdorSeptember 18, 2000
Research Summary
Cigarette manufacturers have been secretly experimenting with chemical additives to hide the odor of secondhand smoke, the Boston Globe reported Sept. 13.The information was revealed in a study released by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, just days after a federal court struck down a 1996 Massachusetts law requiring tobacco companies to disclose each brand's ingredients on packages.
Dr. Gregory Connolly, head of the tobacco-control program at the state Department of Public Health, said the study illustrates why public-health officials should know about ingredients that may be used to make smoking more palatable to consumers. "The department is extremely disappointed with the opinion," said Connolly. He added the court decision has denied "the department's right to do basic research."
According to the study, in the 1980s, tobacco companies began testing a number of compounds on people or animals to determine if the "visibility, aroma, irritancy, or the actual level of secondary smoke" could be lowered. "The big concern is there was little evidence that they tested the product to see if it was reducing risk for disease," Connolly said.
But Mary Carnovale, a spokeswoman for Philip Morris, said each time the company tested a new additive, a "rigorous assessment to make sure it doesn't increase the health risks of cigarettes" is performed.
The Massachusetts study is published in Tobacco Control, a journal of the British Medical Association.
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