Warning: Cigarette Smoke Causes Genetic Damage Within Minutes

A new research funded by the National Cancer Institute concluded that cigarette smoke starts to cause genetic damage within minutes after inhalation into the lungs.

This report is the first human study to thoroughly explain the way that some substances within tobacco cause DNA damage linked to cancer, and they can do so, much faster than anyone would have thought.

Some of the triggers of lung cancer are harmful substances in tobacco smoke called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, according to scientists, but until now, they had not explained the process through which these PAHs in cigarette smoke can damage human DNA.

To be able to do so, the researchers led by Stephen S. Hecht, PhD, added a labeled PAH – phenanthrene to cigarettes and tracked what happened to it thanks to 12 volunteers who smoked the cigarettes.

The results showed that, very fast, phenanthrene forms a toxic substance in the blood known to damage DNA, causing mutations that can cause cancer.

All the 12 smokers developed maximum levels of the substance not after a few hours after their cigarette, but only 15 to 30 minutes after they had finished smoking.

This kind of time frame surprised even the researchers, who reminded anyone who thinks about starting to smoke, that 3,000 people worldwide pay the ultimate price for tobacco every day, and that smoking is also linked to at least 18 other types of cancer.

Stephen S. Hecht, who is an internationally recognized expert on cancer-causing substances found in cigarette smoke and smokeless tobacco, explained that smoking one cigarette is the equivalent of injecting the toxic substance directly into the bloodstream.

“This study is unique,” Hecht writes.

“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.”

A paper presenting the research appears in Chemical Research in Toxicology, one of 38 peer-reviewed scientific journals published by the American Chemical Society.