How people think about the chemicals in cigarette smoke: a systematic review

Laws and treaties compel countries to inform the public about harmful chemicals (constituents) in cigarette smoke. To encourage relevant research by behavioral scientists, we provide a primer on cigarette smoke toxicology and summarize research on how the public thinks about cigarette smoke chemical...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of behavioral medicine Vol. 40; no. 4; pp. 553 - 564
Main Authors Morgan, Jennifer C., Byron, M. Justin, Baig, Sabeeh A., Stepanov, Irina, Brewer, Noel T.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Springer US 01.08.2017
Springer
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Additives
Analysis
Awareness
Behavior change
Behavioral sciences
Chemical properties
Chemicals
Cigarette smoke
Cigarettes
Citations
Family Medicine
General Practice
Health aspects
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Health literacy
Health Psychology
Humans
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Nicotiana
Reviews
Risk perception
Smoke
Smoking
Systematic review
Tobacco smoke
Toxicology
Treaties
Tobacco
Constituents
Additives
Chemicals
Ingredients
Communication
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Summary:Laws and treaties compel countries to inform the public about harmful chemicals (constituents) in cigarette smoke. To encourage relevant research by behavioral scientists, we provide a primer on cigarette smoke toxicology and summarize research on how the public thinks about cigarette smoke chemicals. We systematically searched PubMed in July 2016 and reviewed citations from included articles. Four central findings emerged across 46 articles that met inclusion criteria. First, people were familiar with very few chemicals in cigarette smoke. Second, people knew little about cigarette additives, assumed harmful chemicals are added during manufacturing, and perceived cigarettes without additives to be less harmful. Third, people wanted more information about constituents. Finally, well-presented chemical information increased knowledge and awareness and may change behavior. This research area is in urgent need of behavioral science. Future research should investigate whether educating the public about these chemicals increases risk perceptions and quitting.
ISSN:0160-7715
1573-3521
DOI:10.1007/s10865-017-9823-5