Since the 1950's, the design and composition of cigarettes has changed. For example, the tobacco industry has added filters and ventilation holes to the cigarette rod and introduced expanded and reconstituted tobacco. These efforts have significantly reduced the reported levels of tar and nicotine, but have not had the expected benefit of reducing lung cancer and other smoking-related diseases. Efforts to reduce reported levels of tar and nicotine through changing the design and chemical constituents in cigarettes have resulted in tobacco smoke that is very different chemically than it was 50 years ago. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has developed a program in the analysis of tobacco, tobacco smoke, and biological samples from smokers and nonsmokers. Only through this complete approach can the health consequences of changes in tobacco products be fully understood. CDC's Air Toxicants Laboratory has been established to 1) characterize and evaluate the chemical constituents and chemical additives of tobacco products, 2) characterize the chemical and physical properties of tobacco products that influence delivery of nicotine and other harmful substances, 3) identify the causative agents of disease in tobacco and tobacco smoke, especially secondhand smoke, 4) assess exposure of the U.S. population (including children, women of childbearing age, and other susceptible groups) to the harmful chemical constituents of tobacco smoke, and 5) collaborate in health studies examining the relationship of secondhand smoke exposure to cancer, asthma, sudden infant death, birth defects and other disease. These efforts will be discussed and recent findings presented.
Learning Objectives: N/A
Keywords: Tobacco, Chemical Analyses
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.