Smoke composition and predicting relationships for international commercial cigarettes smoked with three machine-smoking conditions

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Abstract

The study objectives were to determine the effects of smoking machine puffing parameters on mainstream smoke composition and to express those effects as predicting relationships. Forty-eight commercial Philip Morris USA and Philip Morris International cigarettes from international markets and the 1R4F reference cigarette were machine-smoked using smoking conditions defined by the International Organization of Standardization (ISO), the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH), and Health Canada (HC). Cigarette tobacco fillers were analyzed for nitrate, nicotine, tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNA), and ammonia. Mainstream yields for tar and 44 individual smoke constituents and “smoke pH” were determined. Cigarette constituent yields typically increased in the order ISO < MDPH < HC. Relative yield increases were generally greater for cigarettes with higher initial filter ventilation and were also generally greater for vapor-phase constituents than for particulate-phase constituents. Predicting relationships were developed between ISO tar and ISO, MDPH, and HC constituent yields and between MDPH tar and HC tar and respective smoking condition yields. MDPH and HC constituent yields could be predicted with similar reliability using ISO tar or the corresponding smoking-condition tar. The reliability of the relationships varied from strong to weak, depending on particular constituents. Weak predicting relationships for nitrogen oxides and TSNA’s, for example, were improved with inclusion of tobacco filler composition factors. “Smoke pH” was similar for all cigarettes at any one smoking condition, and overall marginally lower at HC conditions than at ISO or MDPH conditions.

Introduction

Research in cigarette smoke formation and composition has included various combinations of machine-smoking parameters, namely puffing volume, duration, and frequency. For reporting and regulation purposes, standard machine-smoking methods for determining mainstream tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide cigarette yields are the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) method in the United States (Federal Register, 1967, Federal Register, 1980) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) method in most other world regions (ISO Standard 4387, 2000, ISO Standard 8454, 1995). Each requires puffing parameters of 35 mL volume, 2 s duration, and 60 s interval between puffs. These methods were developed to provide a common basis for testing and comparing different commercial cigarettes and not to determine the exposure to tar or nicotine by any particular human smoker. Peeler (1996), Borgerding (1997), and Baker (2002) provided comprehensive reviews of FTC and ISO machine-smoking methods development and purpose.

Studies have shown that adult smokers’ puffing behaviors, and potential exposures to mainstream smoke components, vary widely within and between cigarette varieties (Byrd et al., 1998, Djordjevic et al., 2000, Eberhardt and Scherer, 1995, Gori and Lynch, 1985, Jarvis et al., 2001, Scherer, 1999, Zacny and Stitzer, 1996). The US National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine (IOM) (2001) proposed several regulatory principles for potentially reduced exposure cigarette products, in particular, and conventional cigarettes, in general. The focus of the IOM’s second principle was providing consumers with cigarette smoke information according to a method that reflects adult smoking behaviors. No single machine-smoking method could provide smoke yields representative of the wide range of human smoking behaviors across the variety of marketplace cigarettes available to consumers.

Several alternative machine-smoking methods, however, have been proposed or adopted by regulatory agencies with the intent of providing consumers with more information about cigarette smoke yields. The FTC’s 1997 proposed modification to cigarette testing requirements included both the current FTC method and an alternative condition using puffing parameters of 55 mL volume, 2 s duration, and 30 s interval. A range of cigarette yields would be reported (Federal Register, 1997). The Canadian government health department, Health Canada (HC), requires manufacturers to report cigarette smoke yields using both the ISO machine-smoking condition and an alternative machine condition of 55 mL puff volume, 2 s puff duration, 30 s puff interval, and 100% blockage of filter ventilation holes (Canada, 2000a). HC reporting requirements include tar and 40 specific smoke constituents. Brazil’s cigarette reporting regulation includes a list of smoke constituents similar to Health Canada’s (Brazil, 2001). In the United States, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) and the Texas Department of Health require manufacturers to report cigarette nicotine yields determined with machine parameters of 45 mL volume, 2 s duration, 30 s interval, and with 50% blockage of filter ventilation holes (Massachusetts General Laws, 1997, Texas Administrative Code, 1998).

Cigarette smoke is a complex chemical mixture. An estimated 4800 chemical constituents have been identified in mainstream smoke (Green and Rodgman, 1996). Numerous studies of smoke precursor–product relationships and effects of various smoking parameters on smoke yields have been published. Baker (1999), Browne (1990), and Smith et al., 1997, Smith et al., 2000, Smith et al., 2001 are some of the available reviews of this literature. Potentially harmful smoke constituents have been identified and reviewed (Hoffmann and Hoffmann, 1997, IARC, 1986, IARC, 1999, Smith et al., 1997, Smith et al., 2000, Smith et al., 2001). Rodgman (2003) and Rodgman and Green (2003) examined available smoke yield and toxicity information for specific constituents. As Rodgman and Green summarized, there currently is no scientific consensus on specific smoke constituents and harm induction relationships.

The mainstream smoke constituents assayed for this study were based on the list of smoke constituents analyzed in a collaborative study with the MDPH (Borgerding et al., 2000). This MDPH list was similar to those in Health Canada and Brazil reporting regulations. Rustemeier et al. (2002) and Stabbert et al. (2003) reported cigarette mainstream yields for a broader and somewhat different list of constituents. Swauger et al. (2002) and Chepiga et al. (2000) reported yields for eighteen and nineteen smoke constituents in their respective studies of US commercial cigarettes. Sources frequently cited for guidance to constituents of potential toxicological interest include Monographs of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) (1986 and 1999, for example) and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (1993). As more is learned about mechanisms of disease caused by cigarette smoke, research and regulatory groups may identify other smoke constituents for attention.

We have previously reported mainstream smoke constituent yields and “smoke pH” for a range of Philip Morris USA and Philip Morris International commercial cigarettes smoked under ISO conditions (Counts et al., 2004). This current study extends the previous work to include smoke constituent yields and “smoke pH” using machine-smoking conditions prescribed by the MDPH and HC. “Smoke pH” is denoted with quotes to indicate that the measurements are empirical and dependent upon conditions under which they are made (Rodgman, 2000). The study objectives were to: (1) determine smoke constituent yields and changes in smoke composition for the three machine conditions; (2) explain the results in terms of interactions of cigarette design characteristics and smoking parameters, and; (3) develop predicting relationships between mainstream smoke tar and individual smoke constituent yields.

Cigarette smoke tar, nicotine, or carbon monoxide yields have been investigated as predictors of smoke yields at alternative conditions before (Jenkins et al., 1983, Phillips and Waller, 1991, Rickert et al., 1986, Rickert et al., 1983, Young et al., 1981). Relatively few studies have included a comparable range of smoke constituents for a variety of commercial cigarettes. Gregg et al. (2004) reported 44 smoke constituent yields, at ISO conditions, for twenty-five commercial cigarettes marketed in the United Kingdom. Gregg et al. also developed mathematical relationships between tar or carbon monoxide and these constituents. Fewer studies have examined a range of smoke constituents at two or more smoking conditions. Borgerding et al. (2000) reported yields and predicting relationships for multiple constituent classes measured at MDPH conditions with tar, nicotine, or carbon monoxide measured at both FTC and MDPH conditions. Roemer et al. (2004) reported yields and smoke cytotoxicity and mutagenicity for commercial cigarettes and an electrically heated prototype cigarette system at ISO and MDPH smoking conditions. They noted significant correlation between constituent yields and total particulate matter (TPM) and between yields of the same constituent at the two smoking conditions. The Laboratory of Government Chemists (LGC) reported yields for several groups of smoke constituents determined at three smoking conditions. The LGC’s results are found in a series of reports and include tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide (LGC, 2001), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (LGC, 2000a), nitric oxide (LGC, 2000b), and volatile organic compounds (LGC, 2002). The LGC did not address predicting relationships in these studies. Smoke yields and predicting relationships for a broad range of smoke constituents measured at three machine-smoking conditions have not been reported previously.

Section snippets

Cigarettes

Forty-eight Philip Morris USA (PM USA) and Philip Morris International commercial filtered cigarettes from numerous international market regions were tested. These encompassed cigarette design features and ISO-method tar yields available across those regions. The majority contained blends of bright (“Virginia” or flue-cured), burley (air-cured), and oriental tobaccos, with various inclusions of expanded tobacco, processed tobacco, or processed stem. Four cigarettes contained primarily bright

Smoke chemistry

Averages and standard deviations for cigarette mainstream smoke tar and constituent yields are reported in Appendices A, B, and C for ISO, MDPH, and HC conditions, respectively. Total particulate matter (TPM), water, and puff counts associated with tar determinations are also included. Results are in order of exploratory samples (codes E1–E39), validation samples (codes V1–V9), and the 1R4F reference cigarette (code R-E with exploratory set, code R-V with validation set). Examples of the range

Conclusions

The study’s first objective was determining mainstream yields of 44 smoke constituents at three smoking conditions for a range of internationally marketed commercial cigarettes. This research could be expanded by others to include testing a wider variety of cigarettes, monitoring the effects of changing cigarette designs or tobacco components over time, and determining factors that contribute to lower yields of some constituents at HC than at MDPH conditions. Interactions of puffing parameters

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