Hey Dad, yeah you Dad... Please read

Smokeless tobacco may be just as carcinogenic as cigarettes, research suggests.

In the Wellness blog, hosted by Time (8/17), Tiffany Sharples wrote that a University of Minnesota study reveals that people who use "smokeless tobacco -- snuff and chewing tobacco" -- are "subjecting their bodies to an array of harmful chemicals," a finding that "confirms and expands...previous research." In fact, "snuff and 'dip' contain nearly 30 carcinogens that can cause oral and pancreatic cancers, and in a concentration that far exceeds cigarettes: one pinch of smokeless tobacco has five times the harmful chemicals of a single cigarette." There are those who "have long believed that, because you don't have to burn smokeless tobacco products to consume them, your risk of exposure to PAHs [polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons] was minimal." The new study, however, offers contradictory evidence.

According to HealthDay (8/17, Thompson), the "marketing and consumption of smokeless tobacco is on the increase, and some estimates suggest that sales of moist snuff in America have doubled since the 1980s." The team in Minneapolis hopes their work helps curb that trend. Lead researcher Irina Stepanov said, "A total of 28 carcinogens were identified in smokeless tobacco even before our study." The team has "found even more carcinogens in snuff," however, possibly because the PAHs may be infused "during the 'fire-curing' process that is used to turn tobacco leaves into snuff."
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I was going to include some pictures with this but thought that might gross you all out too much. This is serious stuff. Not only can you get oral cancer but pancreatic! The life expectancy after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer is 6 months... For those who chew, please stop, please! I am especially begging you Dad. It is not good for you and I would like to have you around for a few more decades.