Carcinogens

In a bid to crack down on the illegal trade in tobacco, the government is designing a new system that will issue products with unique traceability codes that will accompany each packet from the phase of production, through marketing and up until it reaches consumers.

As an increasing number of city dwellers use their fireplaces to keep warm amid dropping temperatures, the Hellenic Cancer Society has warned of the health risks of burning wood in urban settings and has called on the government to ban the practice and introduce inspections and fines for offenders. 

The US government has announced that it will soon ban most of the flavoured e-cigarettes in an attempt to curb the growing number of young people who use them. However, the total ban promised by President Donald Trump in September will not be necessary, AFP reported.

The US Congress has decided to raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, from 18 to 21 years across the country, France Press reported.

The change passed by the Senate is part of a measure made to the budget bill. It will enter into force in about nine months.

Starting next year the fine for throwing a cigarette butt in Brussels will be increased from 50 to 200 euros, according to the mayoralty of the Belgian capital.

The city's cleanliness office is launching a plan to raise awareness among smokers, install urban ashtrays, as well as to launch a project for the utilisation of  cigarette butts via pocket ashtrays, the service said.

US health authorities have identified the ingredient in the electronic cigarettes that causes lung illnesses, world agencies reported.

The number of deaths from pulmonary diseases in the United States caused by smoking electronic cigarettes has reached 37. The number of patients has exceeded 1,800 people, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, cited by the BGNES.

The cigarette black market in Romania fell in September below 11pct of the total consumption, for the first time in the last ten years, due to the sharp reduction in "no-name" products, show the findings of the Novel research, made public on Thursday. At the national level, the illegal trade in cigarettes thus reached 10.5pct, down 3.2 percentage points compared to July this year.

Interview with Mila Marechkova, Head of Marketing Operations in British American Tobacco Bulgaria:

The most recent results of the Empty Pack Survey that measures the levels of illegal trade in our country were just presented. How will you comment on them?

Police in Istanbul seized over 1,600 e-cigarettes and more than 10,000 of their spare parts, a security source said.