Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #103424

Julie Fillion, MPA, Tobacco Control Programme, Health Canada, Office of Research, Surveillance and Evaluation, 123 Slater St. W, Ottawa, ON K1A0K9, Canada, 1 613 948 2559, julie_fillion@hc-sc.gc.ca and Murray Kaiserman, PhD, Tobacco Control Programme, Office of Research, Evaluation and Surveillance, 123 Slater St., PL3507C, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9, Canada.

“Tar” is not a single compound found in tobacco smoke, but, rather, a mixture of diverse chemical products that form particles, including heavy metals, benzo[a]pyrene, 3- and 4- aminobiphenyl and benzene, phenol, tobacco specific nitrosamines (TSNA). In 2003, the tobacco smoke of 3 brands, “Smoking King Size”, “Players Special Blend Regular Size”, and “Bailey's Regular Size”, all with nominal “tar” yields of 15 mg was collected and analyzed under both standard and “modified Canadian” smoking conditions. The results indicate that, while each brand is labelled as containing 15 mg of tar, the measured deliveries were 15.8 mg, 13.1 mg and 13.0 mg, respectively. With respect to the aminobiphenyls, the Players brand delivers almost 1 ng more than the Bailey's brand (4.24 ng vs 3.38 ng), with the Smoking brand being in the middle. On the other hand, the Smoking Brand delivers 14.1 ng of BaP compared to 8.87 ng for the Bailey's brand and 8.18 ng for the Players brand. Finally, the Smoking brand delivers 222.1 ng of TSNA, the Bailey's brand contains 155.6 ng and the Players brand contains 74.9 ng. While the amount of tobacco used in each brand could account for some of the differences, the fact that the relative rankings and relative differences among the brands also changes suggests that the observed differences may be due to such items as the tobaccos used in the blends, engineering of the cigarettes and filters. The impact of each of these factors on delivery of smoke will be discussed.

Learning Objectives:

• At the end of the presentation, attendees will have a better understanding of tobacco smoke chemistry, cigarette engineering and smoker behaviour.

Keywords: Tobacco Control, Chemical Analyses

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.