The scientists added a labeled PAH, phenanthrene, to cigarettes and tracked its fate in 12 smoking volunteers who smoked them. They found that phenanthrene quickly forms a toxic substance in the blood that causes mutations in the cells’ DNA that can cause cancer. Tobacco smoke is known to cause not only lung cancer, but also 18 other kinds of tumors as well.
The smokers developed maximum levels of the substance in a time frame that surprised even the researchers — just 15 to 30 minutes after the volunteers finished smoking. Researchers, who received funding from the US National Cancer Institute, said the effect is so fast that it’s equivalent to injecting the substance directly into the bloodstream.
“This study is unique,” wrote Hecht, an internationally recognized expert on cancer-causing substances found in cigarette smoke and smokeless tobacco. “It is the first to investigate human metabolism of a PAH specifically delivered by inhalation in cigarette smoke, without interference by other sources of exposure such as air pollution or the diet. The results reported here should serve as a stark warning to those who are considering starting to smoke cigarettes,” the article declares.
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