Menthol: putting the pieces together

Lee, Youn Ok; Glantz, Stanton A.

doi:10.1136/tc.2011.043604

Cited by 65 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…1 Menthol is a mint-flavored additive with analgesic and cooling effects that can mask the harshness and taste of tobacco, making these products easier to use and increasing their appeal among youth and other vulnerable populations. 2–4 Additionally, menthol has a synergistic effect with nicotine. 5 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The tobacco industry has targeted youth, women, and minorities with menthol cigarettes, 2,6 and studies indicate that these groups smoke menthol cigarettes at higher rates. 2,7,8 Little is known about whether another vulnerable group, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals, smoke menthol at higher rates than their heterosexual/straight counterparts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2,7,8 Little is known about whether another vulnerable group, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals, smoke menthol at higher rates than their heterosexual/straight counterparts. The LGBT community is important to consider because LGBT individuals smoke at a higher rate than the general population, 9,10 and the tobacco industry has selectively targeted the LGBT community with tobacco product marketing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Menthol Cigarette Smoking among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Adults

Fallin

Goodin

King

2015

American Journal of Preventive Medicine

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Background Menthol can mask the harshness and taste of tobacco, making menthol cigarettes easier to use and increasing their appeal among vulnerable populations. The tobacco industry has targeted youth, women, and racial minorities with menthol cigarettes, and these groups smoke menthol cigarettes at higher rates. The tobacco industry has also targeted the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities with tobacco product marketing. Purpose To assess current menthol cigarette smoking by sexual orientation among a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults. Methods Data were obtained from the 2009–2010 National Adult Tobacco Survey, a national landline and cellular telephone survey of non-institutionalized U.S. adults aged ≥18 years, to compare current menthol cigarette smoking between LGBT (n=2,431) and heterosexual/straight (n=110,841) adults. Data were analyzed during January–April 2014 using descriptive statistics and logistic regression adjusted for sex, age, race, and educational attainment. Results Among all current cigarette smokers, 29.6% reported usually smoking menthol cigarettes in the past 30 days. Menthol use was significantly higher among LGBT smokers, with 36.3% reporting that the cigarettes they usually smoked were menthol compared to 29.3% of heterosexual/straight smokers (p<0.05); this difference was particularly prominent among LGBT females (42.9%) compared to heterosexual/straight women (32.4%) (p<0.05). Following adjustment, LGBT smokers had greater odds of usually smoking menthol cigarettes than heterosexual/straight smokers (OR=1.31, 95% CI=1.09, 1.57). Conclusions These findings suggest that efforts to reduce menthol cigarette use may have the potential to reduce tobacco use and tobacco-related disease and death among LGBT adults.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Menthol Cigarette Smoking among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Adults

Fallin

Goodin

King

2015

American Journal of Preventive Medicine

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“…The reasons most often cited for its use are the cooling sensations it produces and its perceived ability to mask the harshness and taste of inhaled tobacco smoke. [1][2][3][4][5][6] Tobacco industry research has also shown that highly mentholated cigarettes can appeal to smokers who desire a stronger sensory impact, while low menthol cigarettes can appeal to smokers who prefer a cool and minty taste. 2,7,8 Given the popularity of menthol cigarettes, it is not surprising that menthol is also a common flavorant in E-cigarettes, where its familiar cooling flavor appeals to current and former smokers of menthol cigarettes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensory Effects of Menthol and Nicotine in an E-Cigarette

Rosbrook

Green

2016

NICTOB

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Introduction: Despite the longstanding use and popularity of menthol as a flavorant in tobacco products, its sensory interactions with inhaled nicotine have never been measured independently of the other irritants in tobacco smoke. We therefore measured the perception of menthol in an E-cigarette with the primary goal of assessing its analgesic effect on the sensory irritation produced by inhaled nicotine. Methods: Adult cigarette smokers sampled aerosolized E-liquids containing five different concentrations of nicotine with 0%, 0.5%, or 3.5% l-menthol, as well as two commercial menthol flavors with and without nicotine. For each of the E-liquids participants used a labeled magnitude scale to rate the Overall Sensation intensity, Coolness/Cold, and Irritation/Harshness they experienced, and a Labeled Hedonic Scale to indicate how much they liked/disliked the overall flavor. Results: The main findings were that (1) perceived Irritation/Harshness was unaffected by a low (0.5%) menthol concentration, whereas a high menthol concentration (3.5%) led to higher perceived Irritation/Harshness at low nicotine concentrations but to lower Irritation/Harshness at the highest nicotine concentration (24 mg/ml); (2) a commercial Menthol-Mint flavor produced similar results; (3) nicotine tended to enhance rather than suppress sensations of Coolness/Cold; and (4) menthol tended to slightly increase liking independently of nicotine concentration. Conclusion: In addition to adding a sensation of coolness, menthol can reduce perceived airway irritation and harshness produced by inhalation when nicotine concentration is high, and contributes to the sensory impact of E-liquids when nicotine concentration is low. Implications: The evidence presented here indicates that menthol can potentially improve the appeal of E-cigarettes not only via its coolness and minty flavor, but also by reducing the harshness from high concentrations of nicotine. As the first direct demonstration of an analgesic effect of menthol on inhaled nicotine in humans, these data also have implications for the role of menthol flavors in other inhaled tobacco products.

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“…This is a great victory for the industry, which adds menthol to about 90% of its products, even when not described. 7 Menthol interacts with nicotine to increase the impact of the first inhalation and reduces the throat irritation experienced by novice smokers. 8 Consequently, many products have been designed to maximise these effects.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

European Union's tobacco products directive

McKee

2013

BMJ

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Menthol: putting the pieces together

Cited by 65 publications

References 56 publications

Menthol Cigarette Smoking among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Adults

Menthol Cigarette Smoking among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Adults

Sensory Effects of Menthol and Nicotine in an E-Cigarette

European Union's tobacco products directive

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