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Development of a method to assess cigarette smoke intake
Clifford Watson1, Joan McCraw, Gregory Polzin
1National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway, NE, MS F-47, Atlanta, Georgia 30341, USA. cow1@cdc.gov
Environmental Science & Technology
|January 27, 2004
Summary
Measuring solanesol in cigarette filters offers a reliable, non-invasive method to estimate tar and nicotine exposure from cigarette smoke, overcoming limitations of current smoking machine protocols and biomarkers.
Area of Science:
- Tobacco Science
- Analytical Chemistry
- Public Health
Background:
- Current cigarette smoking machine protocols inadequately estimate human smoke exposure due to variations in smoking behavior.
- Existing biomarker methods for assessing smoke exposure are invasive, time-consuming, and costly for large-scale studies.
- There is a need for a non-invasive, cost-effective method to accurately measure mainstream smoke exposure and its relation to cigarette design.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a novel method for quantifying solanesol in cigarette filter butts as a marker of mainstream smoke exposure.
- To assess the relationship between solanesol deposition and tar and nicotine deliveries under diverse smoking conditions.
- To establish the stability of solanesol as an exposure marker over time.
Main Methods:
- Quantification of solanesol, a naturally occurring tobacco component, deposited in cigarette filter butts after smoking.
- Utilized liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry for efficient, rapid, and reliable solanesol measurement.
- Investigated solanesol stability in filters for at least 4 weeks post-smoking.
Main Results:
- A strong correlation was observed between the amount of solanesol deposited in filters and mainstream tar and nicotine deliveries across various smoking conditions.
- Solanesol quantification using liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry proved to be highly efficient, rapid, and reliable.
- Deposited solanesol remained stable in cigarette filters for a minimum of 4 weeks after smoking.
Conclusions:
- Measuring solanesol in cigarette filters provides a non-invasive, reliable, and cost-effective approach to estimate mainstream tar and nicotine smoke deliveries.
- This method accurately reflects smoke exposure under a wide range of smoking behaviors and conditions.
- Solanesol serves as a valuable exposure marker for large-scale investigations into cigarette design's influence on smoking behaviors.