Cigars
are among the broad variety of tobacco products that have
not been as extensively studied and characterized as cigarettes. Small
cigars wrapped in a tobacco-containing sheet, commonly referred to
as little cigars, are a subcategory that are similar to conventional
cigarettes with respect to dimensions, filters, and overall appearance.
Tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) are carcinogens in the tobacco
used in both little cigars and cigarettes. This study uses a validated
high-performance liquid chromatography–electrospray tandem
mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) method to measure the TSNAs 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone
(NNK) and N′-nitrosonornicotine (NNN) in the
tobacco filler and the nonintense International Organization for Standardization
smoking regimen, ISO 3308, and the newer ISO 20778 Cigarette Intensive
(CI) smoking regimen mainstream smoke of 60 commercial little cigars.
Tobacco filler NNK and NNN quantities ranged from 26 to 2950 and 1440
to 12 100 ng/g tobacco, respectively. NNK and NNN by the ISO
nonintense smoking regimen ranged from 89 to 879 and 200 to 1540 ng/cigar,
respectively; by the CI regimen, NNK and NNN ranged from 138 to 1570
and 445 to 2780 ng/cigar, respectively. The average transfer (%) for
NNK and NNN from tobacco filler to mainstream smoke was 24% and 36%
by the ISO nonintense and CI smoking regimens, respectively. By the
ISO nonintense and CI smoking regimens, mainstream smoke NNK and NNN
yields showed a moderate to strong correlation (ISO nonintense, R
2 = 0.60–0.68, p <
0.0001; CI, R
2 = 0.78–0.81, p < 0.0001) with tobacco filler NNK and NNN quantities.
In addition, the mainstream smoke NNK and NNN yields of little cigars
were determined to be 3- to 5-fold higher compared to previously tested
commercial cigarettes. The mainstream smoke NNK and NNN yields have
wide variation among commercial little cigars and suggest that, despite
design similarities to cigarettes, machine-smoke yields of carcinogenic
TSNAs are higher in little cigars.
The mainstream smoke yields of five volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were determined from 60 commercial U.S. little cigar products under ISO 3308 and Canadian Intense (CI) smoking regimens on linear smoking machines using a gas sampling bag collection. The five VOCs, 1,3-butadiene, acrylonitrile, benzene, isoprene, and toluene were analyzed using an automated GC/MS analytical method validated for measuring various VOCs in mainstream smoke. The VOCs range in amounts from micrograms to milligrams per little cigar. VOC deliveries vary considerably among the little cigar products under the ISO smoking regimen primarily due to varying filter ventilation. Under the CI smoking regimen where filter ventilation is blocked, the delivery range narrows, although individual and total VOC yields are approximately 2 fold higher than those under the ISO smoking regimen. Correlation analysis reveals strong associations between acrylonitrile and 1,3-butadiene or toluene under the ISO smoking regimen. Compared to cigarettes, little cigars delivered substantially higher VOC mainstream smoke yields under both ISO and CI smoking regimens. Moreover, little cigar smoke also contains higher VOCs than cigarette smoke when adjusted for mass of tobacco.
This study examined the variation of benzo[a]pyrene
(B[a]P), N′-nitrosonornicotine
(NNN), and 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) levels
in 16 smokeless tobacco products from several different product subcategories
obtained at two different locations and at two different procurement
times. B[a]P quantities range from 0.6 to 160 ng/g
on a wet-weight basis, whereas NNN and NNK quantities range from 276
to 10473 ng/g and 79 to 28882 ng/g, respectively. The B[a]P, NNN, and NNK quantities vary widely among various smokeless tobacco
product categories and among various brands within each product subcategory.
Dry snuff products contain the highest B[a]P, NNN,
and NNK quantities, whereas loose and portioned snus products contain
the lowest B[a]P, NNN, and NNK levels. In general,
variation of B[a]P, NNN, and NNK levels across four
sets of each product brand purchased six months apart and at two different
locations show statistically significant differences (p < 0.05), although with a much narrower product set-to-set variability.
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