Assessment of potential toxicity of a smokeless tobacco product (naswar) available on the Pakistani market

Abstract

This study shows that the production, packaging, sale and consumption of naswar should be regulated so as to protect the public from the health hazards associated with its consumption.

Genetic Susceptibility to Esophageal Cancer due to CYP1A1 Gene Variant rs4646903 in Tobacco Addicted Patients of Pashtun Ethnicity: a Case Control Study in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan

“…This may be because naswar is a smokeless tobacco product and is swallowed with the saliva that comes in direct contact with esophagus. Naswar contains various carcinogenic species especially TSNAs, and also has a basic pH of more than 8 (Zakiullah et al, 2012). Basic pH has the same effect as that of alcohol in making carcinogenic species more soluble, leading to their more efficient absorption into esophageal epithelium.…”

Hazards of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and waterpipe in a Middle Eastern Population: a Cohort Study of 50 000 individuals from Iran

“…Data were obtained on the types of tobacco used including cigarettes, chewed tobacco (nass), waterpipe and pipe, and the ages of starting and stopping, daily consumption amount and frequency of use. Nass, also known as Naswar, a chewable smokeless tobacco, is a mixture of tobacco, ash and lime that is widely used in the Central Asian Republics, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and in South Africa 12 17. Waterpipe, also known as hookah, shisha, hubbly bubbly, narghile or qualyan, is a device used to smoke tobacco which passes the smoke through water before it is inhaled and it is estimated to be used by 100 million people around the world 18…”

Assessment of concentration and toxicological (Cancer) risk of lead, cadmium and chromium in tobacco products commonly available in Bangladesh

“…We have assumed 100% transfer of Cr as no established literature was available. However, we have also considered a reduced potential risk of 6% based on the bioavailability of the carcinogens [24,28] in smokeless tobacco, 6% of Pb [19] and 20% of the total Cd [16] in smoke based tobacco. In this study, 57.7 kg body weight was considered as the body weight of an Asian adult [29], and daily tobacco consumption data was collected from the report on Global adult tobacco survey by WHO [30].…”