What is light cigarette?
The tobacco industry has been using terms like “light,” “ultralight,” and “low nicotine” to convince consumers that they are using “safer” cigarettes. These cigarettes are advertised as containing no chemicals or additives and are rolled with 100% cotton filters. In fact, more than 60% of smokers in China and 76% in France believe that “light” cigarettes are safer than traditional cigarettes.
Light cigarettes are usually half the size of a normal cigarette, with a structure including: Cellulose acetate filter (to prevent tar); Porous cigarette paper (to allow toxic chemicals to escape); Ventilation holes in the filter (to dilute smoke with air).
Tar is a product of cigarette smoke, black and thick like tar. Tar contains thousands of chemicals, including toxins and carcinogens. When cigarette smoke is inhaled into the lungs, the tar settles and adheres to the air spaces of the lungs. They inactivate the ciliated cells of the respiratory mucosa. At the same time, toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke attack cells in the respiratory tract and the entire body. Tar is considered one of the extremely toxic components of cigarettes.
Are light cigarettes really "light"?
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) both confirm: “Light cigarettes are not safer than regular cigarettes.” This product still contains major toxins such as nicotine, carbon monoxide, tar, and carcinogens.
According to Dr. Phan Thi Hai, Deputy Director of the Tobacco Harm Prevention Fund ( Ministry of Health ), the concept of "light cigarettes" is easily misunderstood. Because of the low content, people tend to smoke more and therefore the amount of toxins in this type of cigarette that enters the body is as much as smoking other types of cigarettes. In fact, in cigarette smoke, people find about 7,000 toxic substances, of which about 70 can cause cancer. In particular, in cigarettes there is the addictive substance nicotine, which makes smokers increasingly dependent on cigarettes and very difficult to quit.
Agreeing with the above viewpoint, the Vietnam Center for Economic and Strategic Studies (VESS) said that there is no scientific evidence to prove that “light” cigarettes are less toxic than regular cigarettes. Studies show that “light” cigarette smokers still face the same risk of lung cancer, cardiovascular disease and many serious health problems as regular cigarettes.
People who switch to “light” cigarettes are 46% less likely to quit than those who don’t. When smoking “light” cigarettes, smokers have to inhale more deeply and more often to compensate for the lack of nicotine in their bodies. Therefore, smokers are exposed to more and longer toxins.
"Advertising for 'light' cigarettes attracts people who have never used cigarettes, by misleading them into believing that 'light' cigarettes are not as harmful as regular cigarettes. In fact, 'light' cigarettes are just another way to continue using cigarettes - they are not 'lighter' but more dangerous because their harmful effects on health are difficult to recognize," VESS said.
Experts from the Center for Disease Control of Hoa Binh province said that smoke from all types of cigarettes, whether regular or “light” cigarettes, even herbal cigarettes that do not contain tobacco leaves, also create tar. Although light cigarettes are advertised as having less tar, the amount of tar that a smoker inhales from a light cigarette is as high as that from a regular cigarette if the smoker inhales long, deeply or frequently. In fact, people who are addicted to smoking need a sufficient amount of nicotine to relieve their addiction.
When smoking these types of cigarettes, people are forced to inhale deeply and inhale more to compensate for the lack of nicotine. Therefore, the amount of tar or nicotine is still no different between smoking light cigarettes and smoking regular cigarettes. Light cigarettes are not “light” at all, they do not reduce the amount of toxins you inhale, and even inhale more, which is more expensive than regular cigarettes.
People who smoke in any form are at higher risk of lung cancer than those who do not smoke. Smoking harms almost every part of the body and impairs human health. Smoking can also cause cancer of the esophagus, larynx, mouth, throat, kidney, bladder, pancreas, stomach, cervix, as well as acute myeloid leukemia… Therefore, regardless of age, the only way to ensure reducing health risks for yourself, as well as for others, is to quit smoking completely.
Source: https://baophapluat.vn/thuoc-la-nhe-co-thuc-su-nhe-nhu-quang-cao-post549152.html
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