After the “Dieselgate”, the “Filtergate”. The 4 main tobacco companies are accused by the National Committee against Smoking (CNCT) of having manipulated their cigarette filters in order to distort regulatory tests to measure the nicotine and tar content of cigarettes. A “tampering” obtained by tiny holes in the filters, a technique known in the tobacco industry. Explanations.
The National Committee against Smoking (CNTC) has filed a complaint with the public prosecutor against the 4 main tobacco companies: Philip Morris, British American Tobacco, Imperial Brand and Japan Tobacco, for “deliberate endangerment of the person of others “, reveals this Friday The world. In question: the real tar content would be “between two and ten times higher than that indicated (on the packages editor’s note) and five times higher for nicotine”, specifies the complaint. In short, the official posted rates of these substances are much lower than reality.
Micro-perforations invisible to the naked eye
The filters of the majority of cigarettes would be pierced with micro-holes “of ventilation”, hardly visible with the naked eye when one unfolds the filter and one looks at it against the light. According to the CNCT, this system which was initially used to modulate the taste of the cigarette can also be used to falsify the tests. This “deception” has already been denounced in other countries.
During standardized tests, these micro-ventilation holes allow dilution of the smoke when the tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide levels are measured with a regulatory smoking machine. On the other hand, when the cigarette is normally smoked, the smoker’s lips and fingers would block the micro-orifices, which mechanically increases the levels of nicotine and inhaled tar to levels much higher than those officially declared on the packages.
In short, the levels of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide that enter the lungs of some smokers would be between two to ten times higher than what would be advertised.
A “ruse” known in the tobacco industry
This process is known to tobacco companies. Once the taste of the cigarette is defined, it is possible to vary the potency and reduce the smoke content. In particular by modifying the filter with micro-perforations, by adjusting the length, the fineness of the fibers or the density.
The paper that surrounds the tobacco and the filter can also be adjusted. Each brand uses its own technique but today “97% of cigarettes have invisible perforations in the filter” which are not there to act on the taste, but on the tests, according to the CNCT.
This process has existed since the 1950s, when the United States tightened regulations on cigarettes and gave rise to various complaints, including one in 1982 in Switzerland.
A two-tier market
Every day around the world, 11 million cigarettes are sold, generating 39 billion in profits, the equivalent of Luxembourg’s GDP. In 2015 in France, 34% of men and 28% of women smoked. If the Russians are the biggest consumers, the French are not left out: France has more than 13 million smokers who consume 55,000 tonnes of tobacco each year. According to OFDT, 55,000,000,000 cigarettes were sold in France in 2014.
But the market is going badly: overall, the French smoke less and are turning more and more to electronic cigarettes. The increase in the price of packages plays a major role in the disinterest of the French (+ 1 euros from 1er March 2018). A study conducted in July 2017 on the impact of the rise in cigarette packs and published in the journal Epidemiology suggests that increasing the price of a pack of cigarettes by one dollar increases the odds of quitting among smokers, especially long-term smokers. The government has announced its intention to gradually increase the price of a packet of cigarettes to ten euros, against around seven currently (+ 40%).
Others, on the other hand, are turning to the black market: 25% of the sale of cigarettes in France is done on the black market according to a study carried out by the KPMG firm and relayed by the Figaro. An underground economy resulting in a shortfall of 3 billion euros.
Cigarettes try everything for everything
Prevention campaigns and the deleterious effects of smoking (whether active or passive) are now considered to be a real public health problem: in France, one in 3 cancer is linked to tobacco consumption and on average 70 people recur. 000 deaths each year from smoking. Smoking one pack a day is even associated with at least 150 mutations per year in lung cells, according to a study published in November 2016 in the journal Science. In total, cigarettes are said to contain more than 7,000 different chemicals, of which more than 70 are known to be carcinogenic.
But this collective awareness affects the profits of the tobacco industry, which has no other solution than to be more aggressive. By cunning with micro-perforations in the filters for example.
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