Washington, Dec 4 (IANS) Chinese “herbal” cigarettes, combining herbs with tobacco, are no safer than regular cigarettes and are just as addictive, says a new study.
“We hope our findings will help to dispel the myth that they are a safer alternative to conventional cigarettes; they are not,” said Stanton A. Glantz, professor of medicine, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), who led the study.

“The Chinese tobacco industry should avoid misleading the public when promoting herbal cigarettes as ’safer’ products,” Glantz warned.

Chinese herbal cigarettes are becoming hugely popular in China and elsewhere. Glantz, with UCSF and Chinese colleagues, compared 135 people in a Chinese city, who smoked herbal cigarettes and 143 people who smoked “regular” cigarettes.

After analysing participants’ urine samples and evaluating questionnaires, researchers observed no significant change in the levels of all four markers, two each of nicotine and carcinogens.

“Levels of carcinogens were correlated with measures of nicotine intake, meaning that the more nicotine smokers took in, the higher the levels of carcinogens they took in,” Glantz said.

Furthermore, 47 percent of participants who switched to use of herbal cigarettes did so because they had a “better taste”, 24 percent switched because of their health concerns and the notion that herbal cigarettes were a healthier alternative.

Most participants who switched to herbal cigarettes reported an increase in number of cigarettes smoked per day.

“Adding herbs to the cigarettes would not be expected to affect the nicotine, which is the addictive drug in tobacco, and cancer-causing chemicals in the smoke of cigarettes,” said Glantz, according to an UCSF release.

This study was published in the December issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.