Donal MacIntyre

He’s rubbing shoulders with the stars at Sundance, but reporter Donal MacIntyre won’t be enjoying the glitzy parties – because his wife is expecting a baby.

The journalist is at the film festival because his documentary, A Very British Gangster, has been nominated in the Documentary World Cinema category.

But he confessed he won’t be spending his much-earned days off at many of the parties at Sundance.

Read more on Donal: I won’t be playing too hard…

People in the North East are unaware of the poisonous chemicals found in cigarette smoke, according to a survey carried out by Cancer Research UK.

Smoke from cigarettes contains some 4,000 chemicals, 69 of which are known to cause cancer, but three quarters of people from the North East who took part in the survey were not able to name any, other than nicotine and tar.

The survey results come as the charity launches its Smoke Is Poison campaign, which aims to tell smokers of the dangers chemicals in cigarettes which include arsenic, benzene and formaldehyde.

Read more on Deadly poison…

Our anti-smoking commercials for Cancer Research UK and the Dept of Health were innovative and challenging. We set out to interview ordinary people in their daily work places and to challenge them about the chemicals they work with and the protection they use. From an undertaker to a scientist from the Natural History museum we talked to them and then ambush them – we tell them that the chemical they are so careful about in work is out there in the pub and clubs of Britain – in the form of cigaretter smoke.

Read more on My anti-smoking ads – blog…

After this summer smokers will no longer be able to light up in public places. Before the ban comes into force, drives to encourage people to give up the cancer sticks are hitting harder than ever. Katie Baldwin reports
MOST smokers would never admit they were drug addicts – but nicotine is as addictive as heroin or crack cocaine.

According to a striking new Government advertising campaign, smokers are hooked on an average of 5,000 cigarettes a year.

The unpleasant TV adverts show smokers being violently grabbed by a fish hook and dragged to the places where they normally enjoy a fag.

Billboards are just as graphic with an image of a woman with a hook driven through her mouth.

Read more on Free yourself from fags……

Kat: Coming up later, we reveal the shocking news that you can find the cancer-causing chemicals arsenic, benzene and formaldehyde on the high street. And I’ll be discovering how the prospects may be changing for pancreatic cancer in the future. First, it’s time for a roundup of the latest news stories from Henry Scowcroft.

Henry: Hitting the headlines this month was a warning from Cancer Research UK that increasing rates of obesity could cause as many as 12,000 new cases of cancer per year by 2010. Excess weight can increase the risk of several cancers, including cancer of the bowel, the womb, the kidneys, and breast cancer in postmenopausal women. Being overweight or obese is thought to cause 4% of all cancers in the UK each year. After smoking, it’s thought to be the most important preventable cause of cancer.

Read more on Cancer Research UK – January 2007 Podcast Transcript…

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 more on York chemist features in smoking campaign…

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 more on Public ignorant about poisons found in cigarette smoke…

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 more on POLONIUM CIGGIE AD IS PULLED…