PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Massachusetts' fire-safe cigarette law appears to decrease likelihood of residential fires

2014-02-14
(Press-News.org) Boston, MA – A six-year-old Massachusetts law requiring that only "fire-safe" cigarettes (FSCs) be sold in the state appears to decrease the likelihood of unintentional residential fires caused by cigarettes by 28%, according to a new study by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers.

The study will appear online February 13, 2014 in the American Journal of Public Health.

"This study is the first rigorous population-based study to evaluate the effectiveness of the fire-safe cigarette standards, and shows that science-based tobacco product regulation can protect the public health," said lead author Hillel Alpert, research scientist at the Center for Global Tobacco Control at HSPH.

Burning cigarettes left smoldering on a bed, furniture, or other flammable material are a leading cause of residential fires in the United States, generating hundreds of millions of dollars each year in property damage, health care costs, lost productivity, death, and injuries. Young children, seniors, African Americans, Native Americans, the poor, people living in rural areas or in substandard housing, and firefighters are especially at risk.

To evaluate the effectiveness of Massachusetts' Fire Safe Cigarette Law, the researchers analyzed seven years of data from 2004 to 2010 on accidental residential fires, including 1,629 caused by cigarettes. The information was reported to the Massachusetts Fire Incident Reporting System, a system maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services.

The results appear to show that the likelihood of unintentional residential fires caused by cigarettes decreased by 28% after the Massachusetts law was enacted in 2008. The largest reductions were among cigarette fires in which human factors, such as falling asleep while smoking, were involved, and among fires that were ignited on materials, which are the scenarios for which the standard was developed.

"This study confirms that the fire standard compliant (FSC) cigarette law has reduced the number of fires from cigarettes started by igniting furniture and bedding as it was designed to do," said Massachusetts Fire Marshal Stephen Coan.

"We now have the science to support that all tobacco companies throughout the world should voluntarily make their cigarettes less likely to ignite fires," said Gregory Connolly, professor of the practice of public health and director of the HSPH Center for Global Tobacco Control.

INFORMATION:

Funding for the study was provided by an HSPH Merit Award and by National Cancer Institute grants 3R01 CA125224-03s1rev++ and 2R01 CA087477-09A2.

"Effectiveness of the Cigarette Ignition Propensity Standard in Preventing Unintentional Residential Fires in Massachusetts," Hillel R. Alpert, David Christiani, E. John Orav, Douglas W. Dockery, Gregory N. Connolly, American Journal of Public Health, online February 13, 2014

Visit the HSPH website for the latest news, press releases and multimedia offerings.

Harvard School of Public Health brings together dedicated experts from many disciplines to educate new generations of global health leaders and produce powerful ideas that improve the lives and health of people everywhere. As a community of leading scientists, educators, and students, we work together to take innovative ideas from the laboratory to people's lives—not only making scientific breakthroughs, but also working to change individual behaviors, public policies, and health care practices. Each year, more than 400 faculty members at HSPH teach 1,000-plus full-time students from around the world and train thousands more through online and executive education courses. Founded in 1913 as the Harvard-MIT School of Health Officers, the School is recognized as America's oldest professional training program in public health.

HSPH on Twitter:http://twitter.com/HarvardHSPH

HSPH on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/harvardpublichealth

HSPH on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/user/HarvardPublicHealth

HSPH home page: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Efficient treatment a step closer in the fight against cancer-causing herpes

2014-02-14
Herpes virus proteins are more 'spaghetti-like' than previously thought, which provides a vital clue in the search for an efficient treatment against a type of herpes which causes a form of cancer known as Kaposi's sarcoma. That's according to researchers from The University of Manchester who have discovered that the virus protein uses its flexible arms to pass on viral building blocks to the proteins of cells that it hijacks. The latest part of this research is published in the February edition of PLoS Pathogens which has uncovered how the protein of cells hijacked ...

Robotic construction crew needs no foreman

Robotic construction crew needs no foreman
2014-02-14
Cambridge, Mass. – February 13, 2014 – On the plains of Namibia, millions of tiny termites are building a mound of soil—an 8-foot-tall "lung" for their underground nest. During a year of construction, many termites will live and die, wind and rain will erode the structure, and yet the colony's life-sustaining project will continue. Inspired by the termites' resilience and collective intelligence, a team of computer scientists and engineers at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard ...

'Sexy' underwear is not the only way to feel feminine on Valentine's Day, academic says

2014-02-14
AUDIO: This is a Podcast recording of Dr. Christiana Tsaousi explaining her research. Click here for more information. TV makeover shows and glossy magazines can leave women feeling guilty for not wearing "sexy" lingerie – especially on Valentine's Day. But in fact, many different types of underwear could make them feel feminine, according to an expert on underwear consumption. Dr Christiana Tsaousi, a lecturer in marketing and consumption at the University of Leicester's ...

Study explores link between selling and leasing market prices for cars

2014-02-14
Changes in the selling prices of cars can be used to improve calculations for how much people should be paying to lease a vehicle, according to a new study. Researchers from Norwich Business School at the University of East Anglia (UEA) and Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB) have for the first time modelled the relationship between variations in leasing and selling market prices, using almost 10 years of data from the US, the world's largest automobile market. They suggest that in order to determine more accurately the monthly payments agreed in leasing ...

Cancer drugs hitch a ride on 'smart' gold nanoshells

2014-02-14
Nanoparticles capable of delivering drugs to specifically targeted cancer cells have been created by a group of researchers from China. The multifunctional 'smart' gold nanoshells could lead to more effective cancer treatments by overcoming a major limitation of modern chemotherapy techniques—the ability to target cancer cells specifically and leave healthy cells untouched. Small peptides situated on the surface of the nanoshells are the key to the improved targeting ability, guiding the nanoshells to specific cancer cells and attaching to markers on the surface of ...

First large-scale study of stock market volatility and mental disorders

2014-02-14
Falling stock prices lead to increased hospitalisations for mental disorders, according to new research published today in the journal Health Policy and Planning. Researchers assessed the relationship between stock price movements and mental disorders using data on daily hospitalisations for mental disorders in Taiwan over 4,000 days between 1998 and 2009. They found that a 1000-point fall in the Taiwan Stock Exchange Capitalisation Weighted Stock Index (TAIEX) coincided with a 4.71% daily increase in hospitalisations for mental disorders. A downward daily change in ...

Crazy ants dominate fire ants by neutralizing their venom

Crazy ants dominate fire ants by neutralizing their venom
2014-02-14
VIDEO: In this video, a fire ant dabs venom on an attacking crazy ant. The crazy ant coats itself with formic acid to neutralize the venom, a discovery made by University... Click here for more information. AUSTIN, Texas — Invasive "crazy ants" are rapidly displacing fire ants in areas across the southeastern U.S. by secreting a compound that neutralizes fire ant venom, according to a University of Texas at Austin study published this week in the journal Science Express. It's ...

Cat parasite found in western Arctic Beluga deemed infectious

2014-02-14
University of British Columbia scientists have found for the first time an infectious form of the cat parasite Toxoplasma gondii in western Arctic Beluga, prompting a health advisory to the Inuit people who eat whale meat. The same team also discovered a new strain of the parasite Sarcocystis, previously sequestered in the icy north, that is responsible for killing 406 grey seals in the north Atlantic in 2012. Presenting their findings today at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Michael Grigg and ...

NOAA researcher says Arctic marine mammals are ecosystem sentinels

2014-02-14
As the Arctic continues to see dramatic declines in seasonal sea ice, warming temperatures and increased storminess, the responses of marine mammals can provide clues to how the ecosystem is responding to these physical drivers. Seals, walruses and polar bears rely on seasonal sea ice for habitat and must adapt to the sudden loss of ice, while migratory species such as whales appear to be finding new prey, altering migration timing and moving to new habitats. "Marine mammals can act as ecosystem sentinels because they respond to climate change through shifts in distribution, ...

Stanford psychologist shows why talking to kids really matters

2014-02-14
Fifty years of research has revealed the sad truth that the children of lower-income, less-educated parents typically enter school with poorer language skills than their more privileged counterparts. By some measures, 5-year-old children of lower socioeconomic status (SES) score two years behind on standardized language development tests by the time they enter school. In recent years, Anne Fernald, a psychology professor at Stanford University, has conducted experiments revealing that the language gap between rich and poor children emerges during infancy. ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Machine learning outperforms traditional statistical methods in addressing missing data in electronic health records

AI–guided lung ultrasound by nonexperts

Prevalence of and inequities in poor mental health across 3 US surveys

Association between surgeon stress and major surgical complications

How cryogenic microscopy could help strengthen food security

DNA damage can last unrepaired for years, changing our view of mutations

Could this fundamental discovery revolutionise fertiliser use in farming?

How one brain circuit encodes memories of both places and events

ASU-led collaboration receives $11.2 million to build a Southwest Regional Direct Air Capture Hub

Study finds strategies to minimize acne recurrence after taking medication for severe acne

Deep learning designs proteins against deadly snake venom

A new geometric machine learning method promises to accelerate precision drug development

Ancient genomes reveal an Iron Age society centred on women

How crickets co-exist with hostile ant hosts

Tapered polymer fibers enhance light delivery for neuroscience research

Syracuse University’s Fran Brown named Paul “Bear” Bryant Newcomer Coach of the Year Award recipient

DARPA-ABC program supports Wyss Institute-led collaboration toward deeper understanding of anesthesia and safe drugs enabling anesthesia without the need for extensive monitoring

The Offshore Wind Innovation Hub 2025 call for innovators opens today

Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) launches a new funding opportunity to join the Collaborative Research Network

State-of-the-art fusion simulation leads three scientists to the 2024 Kaul Foundation Prize

Davos Alzheimer's Collaborative launches innovative brain health navigator program for intuitive coordination between patients and providers

Media registration now open: ATS 2025 in San Francisco

New study shows that corn-soybean crop rotation benefits are extremely sensitive to climate

From drops to data: Advancing global precipitation estimates with the LETKF algorithm

SeoulTech researchers propose a novel method to shed light on PFOS-induced neurotoxicity

Large-scale TMIST breast cancer screening trial achieves enrollment goal, paving the way for data that provides a precision approach to screeninge

Study published in NEJM Catalyst finds patients cared for by MedStar Health’s Safe Babies Safe Moms program have better outcomes in pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum

Octopus arms have segmented nervous systems to power extraordinary movements

Protein shapes can help untangle life’s ancient history

Memory systems in the brain drive food cravings that could influence body weight

[Press-News.org] Massachusetts' fire-safe cigarette law appears to decrease likelihood of residential fires