Don't be fooled by smokeless tobacco

by Stephen Hecht, Ph.D.

Now that the statewide smoking ban is in effect, some Minnesotans might be thinking about switching from cigarettes to smokeless tobacco. My advice to them: Don't do it.

Likewise, my advice to people who use smokeless tobacco is: Quit.

Smokeless tobacco, frequently called snuff, is a form of chewing tobacco that users put between their cheeks and gums, and suck on the juices in the tobacco.

Manufacturers of smokeless tobacco are forbidden by law from claiming that smokeless tobacco is a safer alternative to cigarettes. However, that doesn't stop manufacturers from suggesting that snuff can be used as a substitute for cigarettes, especially in places like an office where smoking is not permitted. The plain fact is: Don't be duped into believing the slick advertising messages. Smokeless tobacco is not safer, and should not be considered a substitute for cigarettes.

The proof of that fact lies in a research study recently completed at the University of Minnesota Cancer Center. This study showed that users of smokeless tobacco actually take in higher amounts of certain cancer-causing chemicals than cigarettes smokers.

We compared 182 oral snuff users with 420 cigarette smokers. We found that the snuff users were exposed to higher levels of a nitrosamine known as NNK, and of cotinine. Nitrosomines are by-products of the curing process used to turn tobacco leaves into cigarettes, snuff, and other tobacco products. NNK is a human carcinogen known to cause lung cancer, as well as cancers of the pancreas, nasal area, and liver in laboratory animals. Cotinine is a biomarker for nicotine; it is found the bodies of those who use tobacco products such as cigarettes and snuff.

Each year in the United States, an estimated 175,000 people are diagnosed of lung cancer and 162,000 die from it; about 33,000 are told they have pancreatic cancer and 32,000 die from it; 31,000 learn they have cancer of the mouth and tongue and 7,000 die; and 18,000 are found to have liver cancer and 16,000 die. In Minnesota, more than 2,000 people die from lung cancer each year, 550 die of pancreatic cancer, and 230 die from liver cancer. The American Cancer Society estimates that about 170,000 cancer deaths annually are caused by tobacco use. Put another way, these are deaths that could be largely prevented by avoiding tobacco products.

These statistics and our study are further evidence that there is no such thing as a safe tobacco product. All tobacco products are hazardous to the health of the tobacco user and also to the people who have regular contact with that individual and breathe in the secondhand smoke. That includes infants and young children whose care and well-being is dependent on adults.

Stephen Hecht, Ph.D., is an internationally known leader in tobacco research. He is professor and Wallin Chair in Cancer Prevention at the University of Minnesota Cancer Center, one of 39 cancer centers in the United States designated by the National Cancer Institute as Comprehensive Cancer Centers because of their ongoing, significant advances in cancer research, treatment, and education. The Cancer Center's Tobacco Use Research Center is one of seven university-based programs designated by the National Institutes of Health. For more information about Dr. Hecht and tobacco research at the University of Minnesota visit http://www.cancer.umn.edu, or call the Cancer Center's information line at 612-624-2620(toll-free in MN, IA, WI, ND, and SD at 1-888-226-2376).

This column is an educational service of the University of Minnesota. Advice presented should not take the place of an examination by a health-care professional. For more health-related information, go to http://www.healthtalk.umn.edu.