The Complexity of Tobacco and Tobacco Smoke

Abstract

Tobacco and tobacco smoke are both complex mixtures. We previously reported 8430 unique chemical components identified in these complex mixtures but two years later our updated number was 8889. Addition of unlisted isomers raised these numbers to 8622 and 9081, respectively. Our previous number of 4994 identified tobacco components is now 5229; our previous number of 5315 identified tobacco smoke components is now 5685. An operational definition of a complex mixture is as follows: A complex mixture is a characterizable substance containing many chemical components (perhaps thousands) in inexact proportions.Detailed knowledge of the amount and type of each component within the substance is uncertain even with today's analytical technology. Although it has been estimated that as many as 100000 components are present in these complex mixtures, their analyses indicate that the vast majority of the mass of each of these complex mixtures accounts for the 8430 compounds reported previously. Over 98.7% of the mass of tobacco has been accounted for in terms of identified components in tobacco. Greater than 99% of the mass of whole smoke has been accounted for based on identified chemical components. Certainly, many more tobacco and tobacco smoke components are present in these complex mixtures but the total mass of these components obviously is quite small.One of the significant challenges we face as a scientific community is addressing the problems of determining the risk potential of complex mixtures. Many issues are associated with toxicological testing of the complex mixture of tobacco smoke. Conducting valid experiments and interpreting the results of those experiments can be quite difficult. Not only is the test agent a complex mixture but also the tests are performed on species that have complicated life-processes. Interpretations of test results are often paradoxical. Significant progress has been made in the toxicological evaluations of complex mixtures in the last 80 years. The challenges we face in terms of testing the biological properties of tobacco smoke are substantial. The statement by DIPPLE et al. in their summary of the research on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from the 1930s through 1980 is equally true today for the cigarette smoke situation:…many important questions remain unanswered…many questions persist despite the considerable progress that has been made.

The mutagenic assessment of mainstream cigarette smoke using the Ames assay: A multi-strain approach

“…However, these guidelines do not take into account aerosol exposure, nor indicate the nature that any alternative assessment procedures may take. Testing smoke aerosols in vitro is especially important when considering that there may be complex relationships between chemicals in each phase, semi-volatiles, short-lived products of combustion or unknown aerosol interactions within non-combustible products [20,42,43].…”

Pyrolysis and combustion of tobacco in a cigarette smoking simulator under air and nitrogen atmosphere

“…The limitations of these techniques are their relatively low time resolution and their specialisation in a few selected compounds such as carbon dioxide [21], acrolein or 1,3-butadiene [23]. Since tobacco smoke is a complex and reactive matrix containing over 5,600 identified compounds in vapour and particle phases [11,24,25], unravelling mechanistic information in real time requires a fast analysis technique. Time-of-flight mass spectrometry combined with photo ionisation has been proven to be capable of analysing cigarette smoke and other complex gas mixtures online with a high time resolution [10,[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35].…”

Indoor Air Pollutants: Relevant Aspects and Health Impacts

“…Carcinogenic metals, such as arsenic and cadmium, chromium, nickel, and lead (IARC, 2011) are mainly found in the particles (Slezakova et al, 2009a;Wu et al, 1997), as well as tobacco-specific nitrosamines (Thielen et al, 2008) and higher weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Castro et al, 2011;Rodgman & Perfetti, 2006;Slezakova et al, 2009b). At present, as many as 570 PAHs have been identified in tobacco smoke (Perfetti & Rodgman, 2011), several of them being classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as carcinogens (Rodgman & Perfetti, 2006, 2008. As most of these particulate-bound compounds have known adverse impacts on human health, the respective exposures represent a serious risk to human health (IARC, 2010;WHO, 2006).…”

“…Various authors reported that over 4000 different chemical components were found in tobacco smoke. However, in their last update Perfetti and Rodgman (2011) reported 5685 components in tobacco smoke that accounted for more than 99% of the mass of whole smoke. Certainly, other tobacco smoke components are present in the mixture but the total mass of these remaining components is obviously quite small (Perfetti & Rodgman, 2011).…”

“…However, in their last update Perfetti and Rodgman (2011) reported 5685 components in tobacco smoke that accounted for more than 99% of the mass of whole smoke. Certainly, other tobacco smoke components are present in the mixture but the total mass of these remaining components is obviously quite small (Perfetti & Rodgman, 2011). Some of the tobacco smoke components, such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, nitric oxide, formaldehyde, and benzene are present in gaseous phase, whereas others (e.g.…”