December 21, 2011   Menthol and other additives substantially boost the toxicity of cigarettes, though industry studies suggested otherwise, researchers found. The smoke of cigarettes with flavor and other additives was significantly more toxic and higher in total particulate matter than that of plain, tobacco-only cigarettes, Stanton A. Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California San Francisco, and colleagues reported. That’s what they uncovered in the per-protocol analyses of the industry studies using documents obtained through litigation. But the studies had been reported as neutral because of post-hoc changes to adjust away significance, Glantz’ group pointed out in the December issue of PLoS Medicine.

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