Smokin’ Heavy Metal

We all know cigarettes are bad for you, and smoking in Beijing is even worse because of the pollution. Now there’s another reason to give up the ciggies – a new study has found that Chinese cigarettes contain high levels of heavy metals.

According to the Wall Street Journal, “Cigarettes produced in China contain three times the amount of heavy metals found in Canadian-manufactured brands.”

The issue is not dodgy Chinese manufacturing, but contaminated soil – apparently tobacco plants are absorbing high levels of heavy metals from the earth they are grown in.

The article states that the specific dangers of heavy metals in cigarettes are unknown, but that “excessive ingestion [of] heavy metals can contribute to a wide range of health problems, including brain damage and cancer.”

Smokers can always lay out a little extra for foreign brands – but what about the vegetables being grown in the same soil?