Tobacco flakes on cigarette filters grow bacteria: a potential health risk to the smoker?: Figure 1

Abstract

Bacterial growth from a single flake of tobacco was documented for cigarettes that had been purchased recently from local vendors and from cigarettes that had been stored for more than six years in a warehouse. In a novel tobacco flake assay, a pack of cigarettes was opened within the sterile environment of a laminar flow hood. A single flake of tobacco was collected randomly and aseptically from the middle of the cigarette column and placed onto the surface of a blood agar plate. The test cigarettes included eight different popular US brands, and these were from three different tobacco companies. After 24 hours of incubation at 37 degrees C, the plates showed bacterial growth for tobacco from all brands of cigarettes. Further, more than 90% of the individual tobacco flakes of a given brand grew bacteria. Likewise, bacteria grew from microparticulate tobacco that had been sieved from cigarettes. Tobacco flakes were observed lying loosely on the cut surface of the filter of cigarettes in newly opened packs, and bacteria grew from cigarette filters that had been touched to the surface of a blood agar plate. In conclusion, the results of these studies predict that diverse microbes and microbial toxins are carried by tobacco microparticulates that are released from the cigarette during smoking, and carried into mainstream smoke that is sucked deep into the lung.

Review: Is lung inflammation associated with microbes and microbial toxins in cigarette tobacco smoke?

“…Of 11 cigarette brands examined, from five different tobacco companies, approximately 60% of the cigarettes had tobacco flakes resting on the surface [28]. The growth of bacteria from the tobacco flakes was frequent.…”

“…The growth of bacteria from the tobacco flakes was frequent. In most experiments, bacteria grew from greater than 90% of the randomly selected flakes from a cigarette [28]. Tobacco within the cigarette column is burned during smoking, thereby destroying microbes and most of the endotoxin (see later).…”

“…In this test, the filter of a cigarette end was touched to the surface of a blood agar dish, and in the sterile environment provided by a laminar flow biosafety cabinet. Bacteria grew from approximately 47% of the filters [28]. Images of diverse bacteria grown from cigarette tobacco.…”

“…The growth of bacteria and mold from warehouse tobacco has been described in the scientific literature and US Patents [28,[33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]. Candidate microbial agents that have been identified in tobacco are reasonably anticipated to activate lung Ma are very diverse [28,[33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43].…”

“…Candidate microbial agents that have been identified in tobacco are reasonably anticipated to activate lung Ma are very diverse [28,[33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43]. Examples of the tobacco-associated microbes that could activate human lung Ma include both Gram-negative and Gram-positive tobacco-derived bacteria.…”