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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2019 Jan 1.
Published in final edited form as: Prev Med. 2017 Sep 8;106:31–37. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2017.09.005

Table 5.

Principles for Communicating about Harmful Constituents

Principle Example Message Evidence
Communicate about familiar constituents that have negative associations, such as arsenic, formaldehyde, and lead Cigarette smoke contains arsenic. Hall et al.34
Moracco et al.19
Brewer et al.28
Current study
Pair constituents with a toxic product….


 or health effect…


 or both.		 Cigarette smoke contains arsenic. This is found in termite poison.

Cigarette smoke contains arsenic. This causes heart damage.

Cigarette smoke contains arsenic. This is found in termite poison and causes heart damage.		 Baig et al.45
Current study
If messages can use only the constituent name, use multiple constituents Cigarette smoke contains arsenic, formaldehyde, uranium, and lead. Current study