E-cigarettes contain 10 times amount of carcinogens: Japan | ||
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Tokyo (AFP) - E-cigarettes contain 10 times the level of cancer-causing agents as regular tobacco, Japanese scientists said Thursday, the latest blow to an invention once heralded as less harmful than smoking. The electronic devices -- increasingly popular around the world, particularly among young people -- function by heating flavoured liquid, which often contains nicotine, into a vapour that is inhaled, much like traditional cigarettes but without the smoke. Researchers commissioned by Japan's Health Ministry found carcinogens such as formaldehyde and acetaldehyde in vapour produced by several types of e-cigarette liquid, a health ministry official told AFP. Formaldehyde -- a substance found in building materials and embalming fluids -- was present at much higher levels than carcinogens found in the smoke from regular cigarettes, the official said. "In one brand of e-cigarette the team found more than 10 times the level of carcinogens contained in one regular cigarette," said researcher Naoki Kunugita, adding that the amount of formaldehyde detected varied through the course of analysis. "Especially when the... wire (which vaporises the liquid) gets overheated, higher amounts of those harmful substances seemed to be produced." Kunugita and his team at the National Institute of Public Health submitted their report to the ministry on Thursday. In common with many jurisdictions, Japan does not regulate non-nicotine e-cigarettes. Nicotine e-cigarettes, or so-called Electronic Nicotine Delivery System (ENDS), are subjected to the country's pharmaceutical laws, but they can be bought easily on the Internet, although they are not readily available in shops as they are in some Western countries. "You call them e-cigarettes, but they are products totally different from regular tobacco," the ministry official said. "The government is now studying the possible risks associated with them, with view to looking at how they should be regulated." - 'Serious threat' - In August, the World Health Organisation called on governments to ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors, warning they pose a "serious threat" to unborn babies and young people. Despite scant research on their effects, the WHO said there was enough evidence "to caution children and adolescents, pregnant women, and women of reproductive age" about e-cigarette use, due to the "potential for foetal and adolescent nicotine exposure (having) long-term consequences for brain development". The UN health body also said they should be banned from indoor public spaces. US health authorities said earlier this year that the number of young people there who have tried e-cigarettes tripled from 2011 to 2013. More than a quarter of a million young people who had never smoked a cigarette used e-cigarettes last year, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Supporters of e-cigarettes say the devices are a safer alternative to traditional tobacco, whose bouquet of toxic chemicals and gases can cause cancer, heart disease and strokes and are among the leading causes of death in many countries. But opponents say the devices have only been around for a few years, and the long-term health impact from inhaling their industrial vapour is unclear. Big tobacco companies are snapping up producers of e-cigarettes, wary of missing out on a snowballing global market worth about $3 billion. Earlier this month, Oxford Dictionaries picked "vape"-- the act of smoking an e-cigarette -- as their new word of the year. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Cricket greats say Australia-India Test should go ahead | ||
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Sydney (AFP) - Australia's opening Test against India next week is in danger of being called off after the death of Phillip Hughes, although cricket greats said the gritty batsman would want it to go ahead. Preparations for the clash in Brisbane, due to start next Thursday, have taken a back seat since Hughes was hit by a bouncer during a Sheffield Shield game between South Australia and New South Wales in Sydney on Tuesday. His shock death from the resulting rare head injury on Thursday cast further doubt over the game with many in the Australia side being close friends of the talented left-hander and struggling to cope with the tragedy. The second day's play in the third Test between Pakistan and New Zealand in the United Arab Emirates was abandoned Thursday as mark of respect while India's tour game against a Cricket Australia XI due to start in Adelaide on Friday was cancelled. Former Australia captain Ian Chappell said Hughes would have wanted the Gabba Test to go on, and that playing may be the "best thing" for those mourning him. "In a strange way it will be probably the best thing that they go out to train and play in a game," he told Fox Sports. "At least while you are on the field or in the nets you will have something else to concentrate on. Because every moment you are off the field you are going to be thinking about Phillip Hughes and what happened. "It was the right thing to do to cancel the Shield round (this week) but I think ... Phillip would want the game to go on," he added. - Too early for decision -
Four of those named in the Test squad -- David Warner, Brad Haddin, Shane Watson and Nathan Lyon -- were on the field when Hughes collapsed and rushed to his side. Warner's father Howard told the Sydney Daily Telegraph ahead of Hughes' death that: "Dave is just shattered. He and Phil have been good mates for a while now. I spoke to Dave briefly... he's doing it tough." A stream of players went to St Vincent's Hospital to stand vigil beside Hughes while he was in an induced coma, and many were in tears after learning that he died. Captain Michael Clarke was at his close friend's side almost continuously and read an emotional statement from the Hughes family after his death. Another former captain, Allan Border, agreed that Hughes would have wanted the Test to go ahead. "There will be guys, particularly the guys that were out on the field at the time that are named in the Test squad, they mightn't be feeling like playing cricket at the moment," Border told Fox Sports, before news broke of Hughes' death. "You'd understand if they wanted to pull out. But I think the game should go ahead. I get the feeling that Phillip would want the game to go ahead." Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland said it was too early to make a decision. "To be honest, the Test match next week, we haven't thought that far ahead and we really don't think it is appropriate at this time," he said. "The whole of Australian cricket is grieving, and all we want to do is provide the Hughes family all the support we possibly can right now." Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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European Stocks Are Flat And Some Technical Difficulties Are Hitting Paris | ||
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European stocks are mostly flat this morning, while France's CAC 40 is not operational. Apparently there are some technical difficulties. Here's the scorecard: France's CAC 40 has stalled due to a technical fault Germany's DAX is up 0.14% The UK's FTSE 100 is down 0.13% Italy's FTSE MIB dow 0.04% Spain's IBEX is down 0.12% Asian markets closed down: Japan's Nikkei ended Thursday trading down 0.78%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng finished 0.45% lower US equity futures are down too: the S&P 500 is down 2.50 points, 0.12%, and the Dow is down 14 points, a 0.08% drop. There's no data out of the US today, as it's Thanksgiving, but there is some still to come from Europe. At 10 a.m. GMT we have Eurozone confidence figures respectively. Analysts are expecting the European Commission's figure to show a small dip in economic sentiment. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Oil Price Plunge Casts Doubt On OPEC Supply Cut | ||
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Oil prices fell on Thursday ahead of a major meeting of OPEC members to decide on whether to cut production in the face of sharp price falls in the commodity over recent months.
The latest falls are being attributed to growing doubts over the cartel's willingness to cut production after Saudi Arabia, OPEC's largest member, appeared to cool expectations on Wednesday. Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said he expected the oil market "to stabilise itself eventually" strongly indicating that the kingdom may be willing to accept a longer period of lower oil prices in order to protect its market share against the US shale boom.
However, a number of OPEC members are less sanguine about the recent falls. In particular Venezuela, Iraq and Iran have all called for production cuts to support prices as the falls hurt their fragile domestic economies. The Iraqi oil minister reportedly said on Thursday that there was a price floor at around $65-$70 a barrel. Outside of OPEC Russia and Nigeria have also been agitating for a cut, with lower oil revenues taking their toll on national budgets. It's estimated that Russia needs oil to hold up at around $105 a barrel next year if it is to meet its current government spending commitments, while Nigeria and Venezuela require $122.7 and $117.5 respectively.
A meeting between Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and non-OPEC oil producers Russia and Mexico on Tuesday failed to result in any agreement to cut production levels. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Rafael Ramirez said that current prices were "not good" for producer countries, but that the only conclusion reached was for all sides to meet again in three months. It now looks increasingly likely that those agitating for sharp cuts are going to have to accept more pain in the short term. However, for some more vulnerable countries further price falls even in the short term could be disastrous. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Oil prices have fallen by some 34% since June on the back of huge additional supply from the US shale boom as well as record output from Russia and surprisingly strong production in the troubled regions of Iraq and Libya.
