Roll-up cigarettes are just as dangerous as ready-made ones
Lots of people think that rolling their own cigarettes isn’t as bad for them as smoking ready-made ones.
But that’s not true – we’ve known for a long time that there’s no such thing as a ‘safe’ cigarette.
And now, a new study published in the journal Addiction Biology confirms that roll-your-own cigarettes are just as dangerous as factory-made ones.
Measuring chemical exposure
To find out how harmful the two types of cigarettes really are, the researchers calculated the levels of two groups of cancer-causing chemicals found in tobacco smoke (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and tobacco-specific N-nitrosamines (TSNA)) inside the bodies of smokers.
To do this, they took urine samples from smokers of both factory-made and roll-your-own cigarettes, and measured the levels of particular molecules that are made when our bodies break these tobacco chemicals down.
These levels are a reliable indicator of how much of the original, cancer-causing chemicals the smokers were exposed to. In short, they’re a good indicator of how bad one form of smoking is versus another.
People who smoked either ready-made or roll-your-own cigarettes had the same levels of both groups of chemicals, even when their age, sex, body mass index, ‘puffing behaviour’ (how long and how hard people puffed) and nicotine exposure were taken into account.
Although the research didn’t look at the other 60 or so carcinogens in tobacco smoke, the two that they studied are likely to play a major role in the development of cancer in smokers.
Worryingly, women had higher levels of both toxins in their bodies than men, no matter what type of cigarette they smoked. This is interesting, because there is some evidence that women seem to have a higher risk of developing lung cancer than men, taking into account the amount they smoke.
The authors of this latest study point out that we don’t know of any reasons for this, and call for more research to find out whether the effect is real, and if so, what might be causing it.
No less harmful
The results of this study suggest that roll-your-own cigarettes are just as dangerous as ready-made ones. And women may be in even more danger of developing smoking-related diseases than men.
The lead researcher, Dr. Lion Shahab, said:
Many smokers believe that roll-your-own cigarettes are more ‘natural’ and therefore are less harmful than manufactured cigarettes. The current findings suggest that this is not the case.
There is some evidence that female smokers may be more likely to develop lung cancer than male smokers. These findings suggest that women in particular may be at greater risk because they accumulate higher concentrations of cancer causing chemicals in their body whether they smoke roll-your-own or manufactured cigarettes.
We’ve said many times before that there’s no safe cigarette. And this latest study adds yet more evidence to the already-large pile showing the harm caused by smoking.
Giving up smoking is the best present you will ever give yourself. Your health will improve from the moment you quit, you’ll save money, and you could be happier too. Your doctor can give you help and support to give up smoking.
Jess
Reference:
Shahab, L., West, R., & McNeill, A. (2009). A comparison of exposure to carcinogens among roll-your-own and factory-made cigarette smokers Addiction Biology, 14 (3), 315-320 DOI: 10.1111/j.1369-1600.2009.00157.x
Welcome to the
August 6, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Hello
I would not attempt to disqualify anything said about cancer and tobacco smoking, but as a lung cancer survivor I believe I have something to contribute.
For all the evidence that proves lung cancer incidences relates to tobacco smoking, how do other facts disprove such? Eg, Greece – the highest smoking nation, per capita, has the lowest incidence of heart disease and lung cancer in the world, why?
This email headed itself by referring to diet and its importance to health and diseases such as lung cancer. Maybe diet is far more important than we think and maybe nicotine, alcohol, cannabis, etc, are not as important as we believe. With all your knowledge on this subject please explain to me this incredible anomaly?
Thank you, Christine.
August 8, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Hi Christine,a very interesting letter from you about nicotine and diet. I have spent every year for the last twenty years in Greece on holiday,and have noticed how many men smoke. I believe their diet is very healthy,but I dont think that justifies smoking. I smoke myself but am down to 3 per day,still too many. Even though the Greeks may escape the cancer. I also noticed a great number of them aged prematurely and very slow and walking with sticks. Apart from the cancer risk their is the premature ageing and slowing down. The greek women do not seem to smoke as much as the men,and they live much longer. This would seem to me a great reason for stopping altogether. thanks Hugh
August 10, 2009 at 2:30 am
Hello,
I am worrying about my 19 year old daughter smoking
and would be obliged if you could help me in anyway
to try and stop it. She tells me she does not smoke
but I can smell it on her and her clothes.
August 11, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Hi, another message for Christine. I forgot to congratulate you on surviving lung cancer. I guess the chem abd radio must have been very difficult,but u have survived. Bravo. I am also a survivor from stomach cancer. Had chemotherapy 2 years ago followed by total removal of my stomach.total gastrectomy. It has been very difficult,but thanks to wonderful surgeon and oncologists I,m still around. My very best wishes to you. Hugh
August 12, 2009 at 10:32 am
Thanks for the comments everyone.
Christine – The evidence that links tobacco smoking to lung cancer is very convincing and comes from decades of research. Tobacco is the single most important cause of cancer in the world, and accounts for 1 in 4 cancer deaths in the UK.
The rates of lung cancer in Greece, far from being the lowest, are actually among the highest in Europe. Lung cancer rates among Greek men are the fifth highest. As you say, Greece is a nation with high smoking rates. And as Hugh alludes to, smoking causes a wide variety of other diseases besides lung cancer, including at least a dozen different types of cancer, heart disease, stroke, and more.
In terms of diet, eating a healthy diet high in fibre, fruit and vegetables and low in saturated fat, red and processed meat and salt, is a good way to stay healthy and reduce the risk of cancer. Because the links between diet and cancer are complicated, researchers are always working on getting more evidence about which foods affect cancer risk, and by how much. But eating a healthy diet can’t compensate for smoking in terms of cancer risk.
F McFarlane – I can understand you being worried about your daughter, there is a lot of information on our website about giving up smoking on our Healthy Living site.
August 12, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Jess,thanks for your letter. as you rightly say smoking causes many illnesses. I useed to get up in the morning,have two cups of coffee,two or three cigarettes and then rush off to work,completely criminal on reflection. You are right about diet for a heal;thy lifestyle,not only for cancer,but many more,obesity for one thing which puts such a strain on the body,usually leading to strokes and heart problems. Since my operation for stomach cancer,I have been advised to eat lots of so called good dairy produce,to try to maintain weight,orm put on. Was a bit worried about high cholestral,but had that checked with no problems there. I believ that in Japan there is a great number of stomach cancer cases caused by their diet,dont know much about their cuisine,but will have to look it up. all the best to you Hugh
October 16, 2009 at 11:22 pm
No need to even ask – Just as bad as store bought.
Sure one can argue ‘manufactured’ cigarettes contain preservatives but that’s like saying “comparing to manufactured ROY tobacco contains 3095 chemicals rather then 4005 in made cigarettes”
November 22, 2009 at 8:36 pm
Thanks Jess for yet another input totally devoted to the argument of its author. Even the “evidence” logged by yourself did not support your stance, again, you dismiss (ignore) what I stated. You place Greece as fifth in the “world” chart of lung cancer incidence but let us look at how much of the “world” you left out. Forgive me if I am mistaken but I believe I did concur that smoking is harmful and contributory to poor health and lung cancers. However many other questions are raised, and zealots such as yourself give no answer to these other than pushing such queries aside and misquoting statistics.
After you have ignored my acceptance of smoking and it being contributory to illnesses including cancers, you roll past the issue of diet claiming complexities as a reason to disregard such.
To get on the same game board as yourself Jess, how much is the contribution to the illnesses/cancers in question, caused by motoring pollutions, airplane pollutions, manufacturing/chemical pollutions, etc, etc. It is so easy to throw stones at visible targets (somebody with a fag in their mouth) but do you still fly around the world, drive a car, drive too fast and too many miles a year, have central heating, shop at Tesco, use a washing machine, have all electrical equipment without standby, and on and on.
By the way, another anomaly for you, when tobacco abuse was at its height for more than 150 years, why did life longevity increase dramatically?