In probably the first such large-scale study of its kind, Sekhsaria Institute of Public Health, in collaboration with the ministry of health proved that bidis and other forms of tobacco (supari, gutkha, among others) are more harmful than cigarettes.
The study had a follow-up period of 5.5 years with as many as 87, 222 male members from Mumbai participating in it. As per the study, the incidence of oral cancer in bidi smokers was 42% higher than in cigarette smokers. For all respiratory and intrathoracic organs combined, the increase was 69%; for lung and larynx, the increases were 35% and 112%, respectively.
Smokeless tobacco, on the other hand, was associated with cancers of the lip, oral cavity, pharynx, digestive, respiratory, and intrathoracic organs.
While the study was completed last year, it was published last month in the prestigious medical journal — Cancer Causes and Control — on March 5.
“While the popular perception is that bidi is natural, hand-rolled and has fewer chemicals, it is as harmful as cigarette smoking if not more. While there have been studies done abroad about the effects of cigarette smoking, there has been no Indian study comparing the effects of bidi smoking, cigarette smoking and smokeless cigarettes,” said Dr PC Gupta, the director of Sekhsaria Institute, based in Navi Mumbai.
In India, the bidi industry that is mostly home-grown accounts for 48% of the tobacco consumption making them much more popular than cigarettes. Despite the small quantity of tobacco it contains, bidis deliver more carbon monoxide than cigarettes.
Bidis, the report states, necessitates deeper, more frequent inhalation as they extinguish more easily. An average bidi smoker puffs a cigarette nine times as opposed to a person puffing bidi 28 times. This is harder on the lungs as compared to cigarette smoking. Besides this, bidi contains more particulate matter as they do not have filters. They also have more nicotine, as compared to cigarettes. Bidis also contain higher amounts of chemicals such as phenol, hydrogen cyanide, benzopyrenes, carbon monoxide, and ammonia.
