Tobacco.org

'Safer' Cigarette May Have Toxins 

Anti-smoking groups said Wednesday they want R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. to stop test-marketing its experimental cigarette after an independent study found that Eclipse, touted as safer than ordinary cigarettes, poses many of the same health risks.

The company refused, said its testing supports the claims, and questioned the conclusions of the study commissioned by the state of Massachusetts, contending they were drawn from limited data. . .

Two of the most potent carcinogens, Benzo(a)pyrine, or BaP, and NNK, were found at roughly the same levels as in Brown & Williamson's Carlton King Size Soft Pack and Eclipse, but were far lower in Now King Size.

Gary T. Burger, RJR's executive vice president of research and development, said the "comparisons do not, in any way, change the fact that an extensive battery of scientific tests indicates that Eclipse cigarettes may present smokers with less risk of certain smoking-related diseases than other cigarettes."

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