A Dutch judge has referred a complaint from non-smokers and health organizations to the European Court of Justice. The plaintiffs want a ruling on the controversial method used in laboratories to measure the criticized protection of filters on cigarettes.
The court in Rotterdam is asking the European Court of Justice to rule on the measurement method regarding these so-called cheat cigarettes. The Dutch judges have "serious doubts" about the way the inhaled amounts of tar and nicotine are measured. The judges want to know if the laboratory theory corresponds to what a smoker actually inhales in terms of substances.
The issue could take on similar forms as previously with air pollution caused by diesel cars. There too, manufacturers were found to evade EU health and air pollution rules by manipulating their measurements and tests in laboratories, thereby deceiving EU inspections.
The lawsuit was filed by an anti-smoking foundation, the municipality of Amsterdam, and several Dutch health organizations. They want the cigarette with perforated filters to be addressed and the current measurement method to be replaced by a more accurate one.
The cigarette filters contain tiny holes that during smoking are covered by the smoker’s fingers or lips. In tests on a smoking machine in the laboratory, these holes remain open. As a result, clean air is drawn through the holes in those tests, causing the measurement figures for tar, nicotine, and other substances to be lower.
The Rotterdam court is now asking the highest court of the European Union for advice, because at the European level it is determined how much tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide a smoker may intake. The measurement method is also established at the European level.