I really liked the heavy technical jargon used but I guess one should expect it from an academic publication. The problem is when it is digested and filtered back for mass consumption, loaded words are added to set that scary doom and gloom tone. We've already established that cigarettes are bad for you. How long can you beat a dead horse before your hand breaks? I guess it comes down to fervor.
To echo papipeguy and to quote one of my bosses (who does field testing for new pesticides), "it's not exclusively the poison that kills you, it's the dose."
Not to compare the RSC to that "consumer advocacy group" that ran the suspect test on soda but it's kinda like that. They discovered that if you drink 1000 servings of soda a day, you will get cancer from the carmel dye. So obviously it gets reported that soda gives you cancer. I'm not a doctor but if you sit down to drink a 1000 sodas a day you've already decided to commit suicide.
Everybody who does scientific research is looking for their next grant. That's a fact. So if you can "prove" something then you'll get another grant and another and another. This is also like politicians. People love cliff hangers.
However, as with everything (science, politics, lifestyle, everything) correlation does not prove causation. Sometimes you do have a strong case, more often than not though, it's either someone taking credit for something which they had no control over.
I'm not disputing that cigarettes and their 4000 added chemicals are bad for you but I don't trust the extent of the data based on someone's special interest money and a wink and a nob suggesting I should trust them.
What's the chemical content of a substance that's not politically volatile? Oh, the car industry hasn't paid you to find out the chemical content of exhaust? The oil companies haven't paid you to dissect gasoline fumes? Paint fumes? Other things already know are bad for us? Oh, a warning label should suffice and you don't need to continue doing research? What, minors are allowed to buy paint and gasoline and furniture varnish?
Scandalous.
Sorry for the long post, I just get worked up.