From: Mirror
By Warren Manger
From self-igniting phone chargers to poisonous make-up – find out how to avoid being ripped off with imported goods
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Cigarettes
Fake fags are up to 30 times more dangerous than the genuine article and invariably contain higher levels of tar, arsenic, lead, cyanide and cadmium.
Counterfeit cigarettes have even been found to contain traces of insect eggs, rat poison, human faeces and asbestos, which causes the deadly lung cancer mesothelioma.
They are also a fire risk as unlike properly regulated cigarettes they are not made with self-extinguishing paper and will continue to burn when dropped on the floor or furniture.
Most of the fakes are made in sweat shops in Africa and the Far East, funding organised crime. It is hard to calculate the true cost of illegal tobacco, but the taxman loses £3.6billion every year in the UK alone.
