| Smoke is poison (including Polonium 210) |
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Britain's smokers are inhaling a lethal cocktail of poisonous chemicals including arsenic and Polonium 210, new TV ads will reveal. But despite this 68 per cent of the public couldn't name a single chemical in the smoke aside from nicotine and tar, both of which are written on cigarette packets. Even when given a list of poisons to choose from, more than two in five people could not identify a single one. The 4000 chemicals include arsenic, cadmium, benzene, formaldehyde and polonium 210, which killed Russian former spy Alexander Litvinenko. 69 of these are known to cause cancer. The results of the survey were published today to launch Cancer Research's hard hitting new anti-tobacco campaign Smoke is Poison, which will feature a series of TV adverts filmed by the award winning reporter and documentary maker Donal MacIntyre. Using the cover story of making a health and safety documentary, MacIntyre interviewed professionals - including scientists, undertakers and a crime museum curator - who use dangerous chemicals on a daily basis about the stringent precautions they take to protect their health. The interviews end with the interviewee's genuine reaction on learning the harmful chemicals are present in cigarette smoke. However, the government has pulled the ad where a hospital radiographer is told that inhaling smoke exposes smokers to particles of radioactive polonium out of respect for Mr Litvinenko's family and friends. Other elements of the campaign include radio, internet and newspaper advertising, outdoor posters, washroom panels and beer mats. Donal MacIntyre said: "The Smoke is Poison campaign breaks the advertising mould. Instead of using glamour and celebrity in a high-budget attempt to try to sell the viewer on the dangers of cigarette smoke, we've just allowed everyday people to tell it how it is. "This series of docu-ads with their straightforward, honest, almost anti-advertising approach are a first for the UK. Filming them has certainly made me and the rest of the crew think twice about the dangers of cigarette smoke. We hope they save lives." Sara Hiom, deputy director of cancer information at Cancer Research UK said: "I would imagine there may be smokers that don't want to know what's in their cigarettes, but there also hasn't been an effort to get this information out before. Some cigarette packets mention cancer causing chemicals in their warnings." She added that the decision to pull the polonium advert had been made with the department of health because they did not want to alarm people in the wake of Alexander Litvinenko's death. She said: "It's certainly a circumstance we could never have foreseen, and the ideas have been in the making over the last few months. The polonium TV ad was one of the strongest and then everything changed with recent events and we just felt the timing was not right. We didn't want to alarm people. "To air it on TV and radio across the country now wasn't the right thing to do. It was a judgement taken with the Department of Health." Russel Hopps, a undertaker in Manchester who features in one of the TV advertisements, said: "I was really shocked when I heard that formaldehyde is in cigarettes. In our business we wear goggles, a mask, thick gloves and an apron to protect our health while we are embalming. "Taking part in the filming made me wonder just what other nasty chemicals are in cigarette smoke. I've been thinking about trying to quit for ages but this has made me decide to give up for good." The campaign has been funded by the Department of Health. Public health minister Caroline Flint said: "We know that smoking kills. The Department of Health supports Cancer Research UK's Smoke is Poison campaign. "We believe the more people know about the chemicals found in cigarette smoke and how harmful they can be, the more of an incentive it is for people to quit, and the less likely it is for people to start smoking in the first place. "Smoking related illnesses cost the health system £1.7 billion each year. Awareness campaigns like this will help save people's lives." Cancer Research UK's chief executive, Professor Alex Markham, said: "The effects of smoking are devastating. Every day in the UK 300 people are killed by a smoking related disease. "Our Smoke is Poison campaign is designed to make people aware of what they're taking into their lungs and bodies when they puff on a cigarette, or when they are around others who smoke. "We hope it will encourage many more smokers to quit and make non-smokers feel justified in asking other people not to smoke around them. Quitting is the best present you can give yourself and your loved ones this Christmas and New Year."
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