[Anchor]
The results of hazardous component analyses for some 460 types of tobacco manufactured domestically and imported for sale have been unveiled for the first time. Group 1 carcinogens, such as formaldehyde, were detected in the vast majority of products, spanning not only conventional cigarettes but also e-cigarettes.
Reporter Jeong Gyeong-yun has the details.
[Reporter]
The survey covered 465 tobacco products manufactured domestically or imported and sold, consisting of about 250 conventional cigarettes and roughly 200 e-cigarettes.
Harmful components such as nicotine and tar, along with Group 1 carcinogens like formaldehyde, benzene, and cadmium, were detected across all conventional cigarette products.
The same held true for e-cigarettes.
An analysis of 104 heated tobacco products showed that nicotine, tar, and formaldehyde were detected in all of them, while carcinogens such as NNN and NNK were identified in over 80% of the products.
Formaldehyde can irritate the respiratory tract, including the eyes, nose, and throat, potentially causing asphyxiation, while long-term exposure to benzene can induce leukemia.
Although e-cigarettes recorded lower levels of certain carcinogens compared to conventional cigarettes, the government emphasized that this should not be interpreted as evidence that they are less harmful.
[Kim Hyun-sun / Director General for Consumer Safety Bureau, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety: It is very dangerous to think that a product poses lower health risks simply because smaller amounts of certain components are detected. In particular, human carcinogens can increase the risk of cancer even when exposed to very small amounts.]
This marks the first time the government has disclosed specific hazardous component information for each tobacco product type, following the first large-scale investigation under the Tobacco Harmfulness Management Act implemented in November of last year.
The government plans to conduct hazardous component tests on synthetic nicotine e-cigarettes, which were excluded from this round, starting next year and release the results.
(Camera filming: Cho Choon-dong | Video editing: Kim Jun-hee)
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