What can we learn about setting performance standards for tobacco products from differences in their design, contents, and emissions?”

While we do not know to what extent lowering the levels of toxic chemicals in the emissions of tobacco products may have a positive impact on morbidity and mortality from the use of these products, clearly reducing people's exposure to toxic and carcinogenic chemicals improves public health. By studying tobacco products and their use, especially those made by different manufacturers and available in different regions of the world, we can better understand how the design and contents of tobacco products influences the levels of user exposure. This information can help us better understand which toxic emissions can be reduced and how. We evaluated the levels of tobacco-specific nitrosamines in the contents and emissions of cigarettes from different international and local brands and have measured substantial differences in these carcinogenic substances. We examined the levels of volatile organic compounds in the mainstream smoke from cigarettes with different levels of charcoal in their filters under different smoking conditions and noted that the delivery of these chemicals of carcinogenic, respiratory, and cardiovascular concern can vary significantly depending on product design. We have examined levels of metals in tobacco smoke and found that these levels are much higher in some products than in others. There are other critical design and content considerations that can substantially influence the levels of toxic, carcinogenic, and addictive components of tobacco products emissions. Regulators must better understand the impact of tobacco product design on emissions and use the science base to identify the initial steps in setting standards.