Cigarettes high in heavy metal

Officials doubt reliability of study on Chinese tobacco products

BEIJING - A senior official with the country's top tobacco watchdog has expressed doubts over the credibility of a study which suggests that some Chinese cigarettes contain too many heavy metals, saying simply comparing Chinese and Canadian cigarettes is not scientific.

A study released on Thursday by the International Tobacco Control Project shows that some Chinese cigarettes have significantly high levels of heavy metals, with some containing about three times the level of lead, cadmium and arsenic of Canadian cigarette brands.