ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 20, 1995 TAG: 9512200065
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
Of the five best-selling brands of snuff, the most popular have the highest content of nicotine and cancer-causing chemicals, researchers say.
A study to be published today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute said that Copenhagen, Skoal fine cut and Kodiak had ``statistically significant higher levels of nicotine'' than did Hawken and Skoal Bandits, the fourth and fifth most popular brands.
Copenhagen, Skoal fine cut and Kodiak account for 92 percent of the U.S. snuff market. Hawken and Skoal Bandits account for 3 percent.
``These data and the sales figures support the concept that the product design may be aimed at creating and maintaining nicotine dependence,'' the study said. The researchers said other studies suggest that ``snuff dippers initially use brands with low nicotine dosage and then switch to brands with high nicotine dosage.''
Brands with high nicotine, the researchers report, also have the highest levels of tobacco-specific N-nitrosamines (TSNAs), which have been shown in a number of laboratory studies to be powerful cancer-causing chemicals.
The industry disagreed.
Alan Hilburg of the Smokeless Tobacco Council said the methods of the study ``were suspect'' and that the results consisted of ``nothing new'' and ``a lot of data that they've repackaged.''
Hilburg also said of snuff: ``It has not been scientifically established to cause any adverse health effect.''
TSNAs, he said, ``have not been found to cause disease in humans.''
The study, led by researchers at the American Health Foundation in Valhalla, N.Y., found that Copenhagen, Skoal fine cut and Kodiak had 10.9 to 12 milligrams of nicotine per gram of snuff. The products also had an acidity reading of 7.46 to 8.19. Higher pH readings are thought to enhance the absorption of nicotine, the study said.
Hawken had 3.2 milligrams of nicotine, and Skoal Bandits had 10.1 milligrams of nicotine. But both of these snuffs had pH readings of 5.37 to 5.71.
The researchers said snuff dippers may be exposed to more carcinogenic nitrosamines than a one-pack-a-day cigarette smoker.
In TSNAs, Copenhagen was found to have a mean of 17.24 micrograms per gram. The same readings were 14.90 for Skoal, fine cut, and 10.96 for Kodiak. The TSNAs mean for Skoal Bandits was 8.19 and for Hawken it was 4.08.
In an editorial in the journal, Dr. Scott L. Tomar of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Dr. Jack E. Henningfield of the National Institutes of Health said there is a strong association between smokeless tobacco and cancers of the mouth and throat.
The authors said that the U.S. surgeon general and the International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded more than a decade ago that smokeless tobacco products ``are a cause of cancer in humans.''
LENGTH: Medium: 58 linesby CNB