The Public Health Implications of Nicotine Containing Products
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Authors
staten, dante kemon
Issue Date
2019
Type
Thesis
Language
Keywords
analytical chemistry , Chemistry , Chewing Tobacco , Gas chromatography , Smokeless Tobacco Products
Alternative Title
Abstract
Background: Tobacco has been embedded into the history of the Americas since before European colonization. Throughout American history, the plant has been used for a culmination of reasons, mainly being what is commonly perceived as the pleasurable effects following the use of the product. Following the plant’s massive manufacturing and distribution throughout the world in the 19th century, there have been several issues surrounding the use of tobacco, such as its irrefutable association to several diseases, including cancer. The association between tobacco use and cancer was argued between the tobacco industry, politicians, and scientists between the 1950s to the 1980s. The United States legislation has been stained by tobacco industry tactics aimed to disinform the public and limit the decline of tobacco products, which includes the lack of information provided on product labels, which could otherwise deter public interest in the product itself. We have addressed the lack of information provided on tobacco product labels in a quantitative survey of nicotine within smokeless tobacco products (STPs) while taking literature- based toxicity, metabolism, and the addictive properties of nicotine into account following a thorough literature review of the history behind the use and dispersion of tobacco itself.Methods: Using a modified Cooperation Centre for Scientific method, we analyzed 15 different smokeless tobacco products using gas chromatography to determine: nicotine concentrations, nicotine concentration variabilities between and within different smokeless tobacco products, and inconsistencies with provided manufacturer labeled nicotine concentrations.Results: The data from our experiment provided us with several outcomes, including the following (1) Nicotine concentrations within and between different types of smokeless tobacco products typically varied widely. (2) fourteen of fifteen of the total pack nicotine contents within smokeless tobacco products exceeded the potential dose of nicotine that could be toxic for an average adult male 30.0-60.0 mg. (3) Literature claims that about 20% of nicotine is bioavailable following the use of tobacco products, when taking the literature-claimed percent bioavailability of nicotine into account, the majority of the total pack nicotine contents still exceeded the potential dose of nicotine that could be toxic for an average adult male. (4) Manufacturer labeled nicotine concentrations differed significantly from analyzed nicotine concentrations within multiple products.Conclusions: The use of nicotine-containing products (NCPs) is known to be a significant public health hazard around the world and has been thoroughly investigated. Health advocates have battled against manufacturer discrepancies within the tobacco industry for decades. Some of these industry tactics include neglecting to inform the public of the chemical contents within their products which may result in adverse health effects throughout the population. Contrary to this, the tobacco industry still practices several of these tactics today. Our data shows that there is a lack of consistency in nicotine concentrations between and within several different types of nicotine-containing products. Consumers not only typically have no idea what quantity of toxic nicotine that they are ingesting, but even if labels are present, these concentrations differ from analyzed concentrations significantly. We hope that this project may contribute to changes in the public policy requiring manufacturers to provide accurate labels on nicotine NCPs not only for nicotine, but for any other chemical contents present within STP to the aid of the public, which this study does not take into account.