Yes they are, in more than one way. Here’s the story – it has a few moving parts.
A sample of Swisher Sweets little cigars we tested recently was heavily contaminated with DDT, one of the most dangerous substances on earth, and totally illegal at any level in any product – except tobacco products, which are exempt from all the rules on pesticides like DDT that otherwise protect public health.
The presence of DDT is especially serious wakeup news for 12-14 million mostly but not all young, mostly but not all Black, Brown and Native Swisher Sweets smokers – and for the @ 8 million or so guys among those Swisher smokers it will be very bad news for their testicles and sperm if they don’t somehow get the word. (It’s important to say that I only know about the DDT in Swisher Sweets – as soon as I can test more brands I’m confident we’ll find widespread DDT contamination in many other Cartel products including quite likely every little cigar brand.)
The health consequences of exposure to even vanishingly tiny amounts of DDT have now been extensively studied by generations of scientists, but never when that exposure takes place by smoking and inhaling contaminated tobacco products, and now that the impact of DDT at nano-levels is becoming clear, the scope of the damage that smoking DDT has been causing for those 5-7 generations can be seen – if we care to look.
The damage looks especially widespread when you take into account that smokers have been inhaling unseen and unaccounted-for DDT since the 1950s. We know that DDT exposure is a cause of obesity. DDT exposure at nano-levels, well below the limits of detection on a tobacco leaf or in a Swisher Sweet, has been shown to create high risk of obesity and diabetes in an exposed person’s lifetime and we also know that such DDT damage is genetic – it crosses generations to children and grandchildren and can dramatically impact their lives through developmental disorders and dreadful diseases like breast and testicular cancers.
DDT is also one of the most potent obesogens that science has identified. Never heard of obesogens? Neither had I until I really dug into DDT exposure research and found the area of endocrinology research. Obesogens are substances that create obesity that has nothing to do with food/calorie intake. Obesogens are chemicals that in simple terms make you obese and keep you that way regardless of what you eat (caloric intake) or how much or little you eat. There have been around 20 obesogens identified since 2011, and DDT is one of the most potent, and Swisher Sweets are loaded with DDT just like tobacco products have been since the 1950s. You can browse a few examples of the surviving tobacco/cigarette pesticide research on DDT and organochlorine pesticides in cigarettes that virtually ended in the 1970s here and here and here and here and here.
Any guesses how that all might figure into the global obesity and diabetes pandemic? Nobody has connected the dots between DDT and other obesogeic pesticides in tobacco products and the obesity/diabetes because there have never been any studies of pesticides in tobacco products. Does knowing about concealed and unaccounted-for obesogenic pesticides in tobacco products connect any dots in new ways in the obesity and diabetes pandemic picture?
But back to this post on the connection between smoking DDT and developing testicular cancer – what I’m calling cheesy balls which you’ll get when I show you an image of DDT-testicle cancer. Even nanogram-levels of DDT exposure are known to directly and definitively destroy human testicles and sperm and human eggs and developing fetuses as well. DDT is hostile to human life from the very beginning of its development and if just a few molecules of DDT in the mother’s blood and fatty tissues (where it is stored) don’t manage to abort the fertilized egg or then kill and abort the developing fetus then the baby that is born will very likely suffer multiple diseases and conditions that will destroy its life as surely as if it had never been born at all. That’s why DDT is banned worldwide – it is that dangerous at any level.
I’ve linked to the extensive science on what the pesticide contaminants of this and other tobacco product brands are doing to women and girl Sweets Smokers in several recent posts so in this post I want to focus on just one part of DDT’s destructiveness – the sperm damage and testicular cancer that are both established outcomes of fetal DDT exposure as well as lifetime DDT exposure, like through smoking a tobacco product contaminated with DDT. A young guy who starts inhaling the concentration of DDT in Swisher Sweets in his early teens could easily wind up with ‘Cheesy Balls” like these cancerous little nuts shown here in his 20s or 30s.
Think These Young Men Rolling A Blunt Know About What That DDT WILL Do?
Here’s what’s in that blunt the guys are rolling using Swisher Sweets as the wrapper. It’s more than just the DDT that creates a seriously high risk that one or more of these young men will develop that “Cheesy Balls” cancer. The good news is that these guys could just as easily be rolling their Cannabis with an organic tobacco leaf from a dependable online source and – voila – no more risk of cheesy balls and a lot better smoke. But until that happens here’s what they’ll be inhaling.
All the sperm-killing, fetal life-destroying pesticides you see above are all also concealed and unregulated in Swisher Sweets, and since no research scientist anywhere ever thought that people would be inhaling any of them regularly, much less inhaling all of them together, like on contaminated tobacco products, nobody has ever studied what happens. So what we know about what many of these insecticides and fungicides do to human reproductive organs has to be interpreted from what happens to mice and fish testicles and sperm and eggs and babies.
The only real question is – can we take a hint from nature?
Nobody who smokes Swisher Sweets has any idea that they are inhaling a chemical that’s been banned in every country on earth for over 50 years for the strongest possible scientific reasons. That’s why I am so concerned that our private lab tests, the first and only tests of off-the-shelf tobacco products for pesticides since the 1960s, show extremely high 0.816 mg/kg concentrations of DDT in Swisher Sweets, a tobacco product smoked by over 12 million largely young, largely Black, Brown and Native people who we know from a broad universe of studies are disproportionately vulnerable to DDT and the organochlorine pesticides.
If you’re male then even minimal exposure to DDT in your lifetime can destroy your sperm and give you testicular cancer. But your exposure doesn’t have to be from anything you did. Male children whose mothers are exposed to DDT while they are pregnant are also at high risk of testicular cancer in their childhood and teens – along with high risk of damaged sperm, obesity and diabetes. Females exposed to DDT at any time of life but especially while young have multiple kinds of high cancer risk, the most clearly established being breast cancer, as well as high risk of diabetes and obesity. Girls whose mothers were exposed to DDT while pregnant are at very significantly higher risk of obesity and diabetes, as well as at high risk of giving birth to their own boys with damaged sperm and cancerous testicles.
As you can see there’s a lot more to look at in Swisher Sweets than just the DDT, but we’ll start there. Well, I do have to mention that Carbendazim right up front too.
Considering the science below, I’m pretty sure that if young Black and Latino guys who already smoke Swisher Sweets had their sperm tested they would see what is happening to them pretty clearly. Read some of the science below and tell me what you think those young Swisher smokers would find?
DDT
DDT Linked to Abnormal Sperm
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ddt-linked-to-abnormal-sperm1/
High DDT and PCB exposure during adolescence and adulthood is associated with abnormal chromosomes in sperm. Men exposed to certain banned but long-lived chemicals at high levels as teenagers are more likely to have defective sperm later in life, according a new study.
Organochlorine chemicals—specifically DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)—may affect how testicles mature and function. It is the first study to examine men’s exposure to the chemicals during the teenage years and abnormal sperm later in life, and suggests that the chemicals—banned in the United States but still lingering in soil, water and people—may contribute to male infertility.
NOTE: These researchers clearly don’t know about tobacco products if they think that ‘lingering traces in soil and water’ is what’s frying all those young human testicles.
European Journal of Cancer
doi: 10.1097/00008469-200402000-00013.
Interaction between genetic polymorphism of cytochrome P450-1B1 and environmental pollutants in breast cancer risk
CYP polymorphisms, mediated by long term OCs exposure, activate protein dynamics via allosteric regulation of mitochondria’s electron transport and related metabolic pathways. The framework of all known phenotype and disease gene associations, could be indicative of the common genetic origin of many diseases. Colorectal, pancreatic, hepatic, thyroid, breast cancer, renal cancer and sarcoma are involved in the correlation between OCs exposure and carcinogenicity.
The presence of a CYP1A1 MspI (rs4646903) polymorphism associated with OCs exposure may affect spermatogenesis by modifying the metabolism of androgens. It was concluded that increased DDE-DDT (Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene-DDT) exposure affects semen motility, concentration and morphology, especially under the existence of CYP1A1 MspI (rs4646903) polymorphism.
Sperm epimutation biomarkers of obesity and pathologies following DDT induced epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of disease
Environmental Epigenetics, Volume 5, Issue 2, April 2019
https://academic.oup.com/eep/article/5/2/dvz008/5499083
Gestating F0 generational female rats were transiently exposed to DDT during fetal gonadal sex determination, and the incidence of adult-onset pathologies was assessed in the subsequent F1, F2, and F3 generations.
There was an increase of testis disease and early-onset puberty in the F2 generation DDT lineage males. The F3 generation males and females had significant increases in the incidence of obesity and multiple disease.
The F3 generation DDT males also had significant increases in testis disease, prostate disease, and late onset puberty. The F3 generation DDT females had increases in ovarian and kidney disease.
Unique sets of DMRs were associated with late onset puberty, prostate disease, kidney disease, testis disease, obesity, and multiple disease pathologies.
Environmental Research 2009 May;109(4):457-64.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19303595/
Negative effects of serum p,p’-DDE on sperm parameters and modification by genetic polymorphisms
Effects of ambient exposure to DDT and its metabolites (DDE-DDT) on human sperm parameters and the role of genetic polymorphisms in modifying the association were investigated.
High DDE-DDT exposure adversely affected all 3 sperm parameters and its effects were exacerbated by the GSTT1 null polymorphism and by the CYP1A1 common alleles.
Reduced Seminal Parameters Associated With Environmental DDT Exposure and p,p′‐DDE Concentrations in Men in Chiapas, Mexico: A Cross‐Sectional Study
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.2164/jandrol.05121
Long‐term exposure to small amounts of organochlorine contaminants leads to the accumulation of considerable burdens in animal and human tissues. Other effects may occur in the young, as they seem to be the most vulnerable (Longnecker et al, 2000). Indeed, it is not the amount of DDT to which a mother is exposed during pregnancy that is critical, but rather her lifetime exposure and bioaccumulation that determines the level of exposure of the fetus and breast‐fed infant (Longnecker et al, 2000; Korrick et al, 2001).
Now let me show you briefly what some of the research on other insecticide/fungicide contaminants that Swisher Sweets smokers are inhaling and please remember – they are human beings being exposed to all of these together, not in isolated lab experiments on mice and fish.
Imidacloprid
The Neonicotinoid Insecticide Imidacloprid: A Male Reproductive System Toxicity Inducer-Human and Experimental Study
Conclusion: Toxic effects to male reproductive system can be considered as an outcome of IMI exposure and infertility problems can be expected in chronically exposed subjects.
MY COMMENT: Sounds pretty definite when they say ‘problems can be expected.’
Propamocarb
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2013/06/05/2013-13190/propamocarb-pesticide-tolerances
EPA: Propamocarb; Pesticide Tolerances
Reproductive effects consisted of increased vacuolization and decreased weight of the epididymides, decreased sperm counts and motility, and abnormal sperm morphology.
MY COMMENT: translation: crippled puny little guys with no get up and go
Bifenthrin
https://www.beefmagazine.com/genetics/common-insecticide-may-affect-bull-fertility
Common Insecticide May Affect Bull Fertility
Research suggests pyrethroids may inhibit production of an enzyme necessary for the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT is necessary for the proper function of multiple accessory sex glands, including the seminal vesicles and prostate, as well as the epididymedes.
“The evidence generated in lab animals over the last 10 years or so demonstrates rather convincingly that pyrethroids are potent endocrine disruptors and do cause malfunctioning in DHT-dependent organs.”
MY COMMENT: Who has stronger testicles – a stud bull or a teenage boy? And so if a little Bifenthrin in their feed is for big bad bull balls, what is a little bifenthrin in their smokes going to do to even big bad guy balls?
Dimethomorph
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pesticides-may-block-male-hormones/
Scientific American
“Considering all the evidence that human male reproduction is exhibiting troubling secular trends (sperm count and quality, hypospadias, cryptorchidism, testis cancer), this is highly troubling,”
MY COMMENT: “Highly troubling” – my guess is that’s putting it mildly in street terms
Carbendazim
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2227156/
Carbendazim-induced alterations of reproductive development and function in the rat and hamster
MBC treatment markedly altered sperm morphology, testicular and epididymal weights, and sperm numbers and testicular histology. Fertility, sperm motility, and hormonal levels were altered, primarily in the males with very low sperm counts.
MY COMMENT: Looks like Carbendzim is pretty good at rat & hamster birth control by lowering sperm count. Sounds like it might be kinda tough on those little testicles.
Male reproductive toxic effects of carbendazim: Hitherto unreported targets in testis
Carbendazim (MBC), a widely used fungicide, is toxic to male reproductive mechanisms.
MY COMMENT: Well, that’s pretty clear, isn’t it? And guess what the second banned pesticide is in Swisher Sweets?
Cypermethrin
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20435348/
Cypermethrin reversibly alters sperm count without altering fertility in mice
Administration of cypermethrin … caused a significant reduction in epididymal spermatozoa count and an increase in abnormal spermatozoa count when compared to controls.
MY COMMENT: Kinda sounds like you wouldn’t want to ‘administer’ that to yourself doesn’t it?
Pendimethalin
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30025873/
Impact of long-term exposure to pendimethalin
Reproductive capacity was significantly affected by exposure to the herbicide; a time lag of more than five weeks was observed for egg maturation in contaminated females and high bioconcentrations of pendimethalin were measured in eggs and sperm. Chemical transfer from genitors to offspring via gametes may affect embryo development and negatively impact the early stages of development
MY COMMENT: It goes after both sperm and eggs, leaving ‘high concentrations”. So if I’m inhaling pendimethalin 200-300 puffs a day, that could be quite risky couldn’t it?
So dear reader, there you are. The entire regulatory apparatus of the US Federal government, that spends tens of billions a year on “smoking prevention” and “research”, has somehow managed to completely ignore this massive assault on people’s health and lives for generations. Zero research. Zero publications. Zero programs. Zero regulation. Could this simply be an oversight? Of course not. It is much more likely that this is an actual, real conspiracy – not a conspiracy theory.
Pesticide contamination of tobacco products causes much if not most most of the 500,000 American deaths and 7,000,000 worldwide deaths not from smoking tobacco but from smoking contaminated tobacco products, and multiple agencies of the US government are fully complicit. They have had institutional knowledge of this situation for over 50 years and have done absolutely nothing. I realize that it is because the Tobacco Cartel has these agencies all completely tied up as far as being able to do anything but agencies like FDA are actually acting as allies of the Cartel. The 2015 lawsuit that forced American Spirit organic cigarettes to put a warning on their pack that organic tobacco does not mean a safer smoke is a deliberate lie, based on ZERO SCIENCE, hatched by an inter-agency conspiracy, that is INTENDED to keep smokers from saving their own health and lives by switching to organic tobacco products. There must be trans-generational accountability in both the US government and the Tobacco Cartel.
