In the study, more than 700 bacterial species were found in well-known cigarette brands including Camels, Kool Filter Kings, Lucky Strike Original Red, and Marlboro Red. Sapkota suspects their screen actually underestimates the number of bacteria present, and thinks it could be closer to the thousands of chemicals found in cigarettes. The researchers noted that no one brand had significantly different levels of bacteria.
To create cigarettes, green tobacco, which has relatively few bacterial species, are fermented under conditions that are perfect for dense bacterial growth. Instead of removing the bacteria during process, the fermentation concentrates them to as much as 1 million bacteria per cigarette, Pauly said. And the bacteria are alive and capable of reproducing. A single tobacco flake from a cigarette, when placed on a dish with nutrients, will lead to the growth of live bacterial colonies, he said.
"It’s amazing how hearty these little critters are," said Sapkota. "We’re finding out more each day how they can survive."
The research team found 15 different classes of bacteria and a number of potentially pathogenic organisms. The most notorious organisms present were Acinetobacter, Bacillus, Burkholderia, Clostridium, Klebsiella, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Serratia. These bacteria were found in more than 90 percent of all cigarette samples tested. Also found in the samples were the pathogens Campylobacter, Enterococcus, Proteus, and Staphylococcus.
Sapkota said it's troubling that so many human pathogens are present in cigarette tobacco. Microbes are known to cause acute infectious illnesses and also are risk factors for chronic diseases such as cancers and neurological disorders. However, future studies are necessary to determine whether or not the bacteria in cigarettes actually play a role in those diseases.
What researchers do know is that smokers are inhaling living bacteria into their lungs, which are sterile in healthy individuals, and this could lead to certain types of lung disease such as COPD and inflammation that is associated with solid tumors.
According to Pauly, even dead bacteria produce endotoxins that can activate cells that cause inflammation. He says there is some concern that the chemicals and bacteria might work together to speed up the malignancy of cancer cells.
However, at this stage in the research, it is too early to indict the pathogens found in cigarettes for causing disease in humans. The goal of the study was simply to evaluate cigarettes’ bacterial metagenome, or all the bacteria present.
"The organisms are there. Now the question is, what are they doing?" said Sapkota.
This article originally ran at Environmental Health News, a news source published by Environmental Health Sciences, a nonprofit media company.
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17 Comments
Add CommentJust another reason, or many reasons, not to smoke.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAlso, let's stop calling these people "smokers."
"Smokers" is a smooth, easy word that covers the truth - nicotine addiction.
All smokers are simply nicotine addicts.
We call heroin addicts, heroin addicts, so lets call nicotine addicts what they are.
THis is probably true of pot, too.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHow do the bacteria survive the tobacco being burned?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHow do the bacteria survive when the tobacco burns?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI was also wondering how much of the bacteria would actually survive the fire and enter the body as living organisms.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiscan i send this as my science and technology assignment in my teacher's email? thank you for the person who made this article. it was knowledgable than those of what i research previously.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisthank you for this article, now i can tell my friends how harmful smoking really is.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFermentaion is great for bacteria and yeasts. I wonder how much is in your tea?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf you keep your immune system built up with other bacterial laden herbs like, echinacea and goldenseal and numerous other beneficial bacterial laden herbs, doesn't your body fight the dangerous bacteria and viruses? It is common knowledge that the weaker your body, mind, and immune system, the more disease will infest you...stay strong, healthy and enjoy life.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this@CLR: The bacteria are in the unlit portion of the cigarette, opposite the lit portion. The smoker (nicotine addict) pulls the smoke from the lit end through the tabacco, then the filter, then into their lungs. The bacteria don't have to survive the burning portion to be transported into the body.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCRL > How do the bacteria survive when the tobacco burns?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou inhale bacteria from the entire cigarette, not just from the burning tip...
@Candide: You are right, these people are nicotine addicts. The problem with your analogy with heroin is that heroin is illegal. "Nicotine addicts" are perfectly law-abiding citizens who make a choice. Labeling them addicts is discriminatory, rude, and agenda-pushing. I personally do not smoke, nor will I ever, but at least I have a little bit of class when referring to other human beings.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat's next? Calling coffee drinkers what they really are? Caffeine addicts? I call for calling caffeine addicts what they are, how about you Candide?
While I agree that cigarettes are bad for one's health, anyone who has taken a microbiology class knows that EVERYTHING, is teeming with millions of different microbes, including human pathogens.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisUm... Bacteria are on tobacco? Bacteria are everywhere. You inhale millions -- if not billions -- of bacteria each day *without* smoking. This is sounding rather scare-tactic-y.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisUm... Bacteria are on tobacco? Bacteria are everywhere. You inhale millions -- if not billions -- of bacteria each day *without* smoking. This is sounding rather scare-tactic-y.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCrap, no Delete option, huh?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWho cares? There is bacteria on tobacco! Well, there is bacteria EVERYWHERE and on EVERYTHING. We breath it, we eat it, we sleep on it, we sit on it, should I go on... So a group of scientists (I'm certain working on a government grant) have determined there is bacteria on tobacco. Give me several million dollars and I'll confirm that there is bacteria on celery. So, smokers inhale bacteria.... Hmmm... So do aerobics instructors and vegetarians.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOur species has survived from its origin to this day completely outnumbered and surrounded by bacteria.
Should we sterilize the planet?