Do Cigarette Filters Contain Pig’s Blood ?

The news over the allegations raised by Prof. Simon Chapman from Australia Sydney University that hemoglobin protein obtained from pig blood is being used in cigarette filters has kept the agenda busy in recent days. It was stated that vegetarians and Muslims and Jews who are sensitive about pork products because of religious beliefs will not be pleased with this news. The analyses of the cigarette samples sent to our Agency in order to be examined for pig blood has been carried out at the Consumer Safety and Health Effects Research Laboratories. Presence of pig blood in cigarette filter was investigated by real time PCR technique. As a result, pig DNA was not determined in the cigarette filters that were analyzed. In order to analyze the presence of hemoglobin protein in cigarette filters, mass screening was conducted with UPLC-TOF-MS (Ultra performance liquid chromotography-time of flight mass spectrometry); as a result hemoglobin was not found in the analyzed cigarette filters. This research was a pilot study in nature and more detailed studies about the subject will be helpful.