Donal MacIntyre

A CHEMIST from York is starring in a national advertising campaign warning of the dangers of smoking.

Dr Avtar Matharu, a lecturer in organic chemistry at the University of York, is one of a series of professionals who feature in the powerful national advertising campaign put together by Cancer Research UK and funded by the Department of Health.

The documentary-style adverts feature interviews by TV documentary maker Donal MacIntyre on professional people, such as undertakers and scientists, who use dangerous chemicals on a daily basis.

The professionals are asked what precautions they use to safeguard themselves against the dangerous chemicals they are dealing with, and whether they would be surprised to learn all of them are present in smoke from cigarettes.

Read the rest of this entry →

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."

Read the rest of this entry →

AN ANTI-SMOKING advert featuring the radioactive poison that killed a former Russian spy has been pulled by the Government.

Polonium 210 – used to murder Alexander Litvinenko in London last month – was due to feature in one of the Cancer Research UK commercials.

The £3million campaign highlights that there are 69 deadly chemicals in cigarette smoke – including polonium, arsenic and formaldehyde.

Read the rest of this entry →

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.

Read the rest of this entry →

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.

Read the rest of this entry →

Two adverts warning cigarette smoke contains the radioactive substance that killed Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko has been pulled from a health campaign.

The Department of Health said it was "inappropriate" to show the ad, which shows cigarettes contain polonium 210.

Experts are testing people who had contact with Mr Litvinenko or went to the same places to see if they were also infected.

But other adverts in the ‘Smoke is Poison’ campaign will air as planned.

Read the rest of this entry →

THE Government has pulled a TV advert revealing cigarettes contain deadly polonium-210 — to spare the feelings of murdered Alexander Litvinenko’s family.

The Department of Health last night said the decision was made due to “sensitivities”.

But a Cancer Research UK source said: “It’s a complete cop out. The whole idea was to stop people smoking and dying of cancer.

Read the rest of this entry →

Health chiefs have halted the airing of an anti-smoking advert because it warned cigarettes contain the radioactive substance that killed Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.

The hard-hitting Smoke is Poison campaign highlighting the perils of smoking was due to have its first airing on Sunday night.

But health chiefs decided it would be "inappropriate" to air the ad as it revealed that cigarettes contained deadly Polonium 210.

Read the rest of this entry →