Low-Yield Cigarettes May Not Reduce Nicotine
Jan. 22, 2001 -- If you think cigarettes promising low yields of tar and nicotine keep you safe, you may want to think again.
Smoking cigarettes labeled as lower in those harmful chemicals may not be adequately tested, and therefore may not reduce the amount of tar and nicotine that gets into your lungs. British scientists warn in the Jan. 17 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute that nicotine amounts determined by "smoking machines" are misleading.
"Our results confirm that machine-smoked nicotine yields of cigarettes are poor predictors of nicotine intake in smokers," writes study author Martin Jarvis, MD, of the University College London's department of epidemiology and public health in the U.K. "Since tar and nicotine deliveries are highly correlated, this indicates there is little difference, on average, between tar exposure in smokers of low and high nicotine-yielding brands and once more calls into question the magnitude of the potential reduction in health risk obtained by smoking low tar and nicotine brands."
To arrive at their conclusion, Jarvis and his colleagues analyzed the concentration of a compound called cotinine in the saliva of 2,031 adult smokers of manufactured cigarette brands. Cotinine is formed when the body breaks down nicotine, and it's considered a valid measure of nicotine intake.
Through this method, the researchers found that the nicotine intake per cigarette was far higher than measured by smoking machines. For those smoking cigarettes labelled low yield, the amount was eight times greater than machine yields; for smokers of high-yield cigarettes, the figure was 1.4 times higher.
The British figures on nicotine intake don't surprise other researchers. They say that tobacco in low-yield cigarettes can have as much of the harmful chemicals as high-yield brands.
"The commercial brands achieve low classifications by having holes in the filter," says neuroscientist Jed Rose, PhD. "Most people defeat the system by covering up the holes." By plugging the holes with their fingers or their lips, smokers can get full-strength smoke rather than the reduced amount the filter ventilation would provide by diluting the smoke with air.
Low-Yield Cigarettes May Not Reduce Nicotine
Jan. 22, 2001 -- If you think cigarettes promising low yields of tar and nicotine keep you safe, you may want to think again.
Smoking cigarettes labeled as lower in those harmful chemicals may not be adequately tested, and therefore may not reduce the amount of tar and nicotine that gets into your lungs. British scientists warn in the Jan. 17 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute that nicotine amounts determined by "smoking machines" are misleading.
"Our results confirm that machine-smoked nicotine yields of cigarettes are poor predictors of nicotine intake in smokers," writes study author Martin Jarvis, MD, of the University College London's department of epidemiology and public health in the U.K. "Since tar and nicotine deliveries are highly correlated, this indicates there is little difference, on average, between tar exposure in smokers of low and high nicotine-yielding brands and once more calls into question the magnitude of the potential reduction in health risk obtained by smoking low tar and nicotine brands."
To arrive at their conclusion, Jarvis and his colleagues analyzed the concentration of a compound called cotinine in the saliva of 2,031 adult smokers of manufactured cigarette brands. Cotinine is formed when the body breaks down nicotine, and it's considered a valid measure of nicotine intake.
Through this method, the researchers found that the nicotine intake per cigarette was far higher than measured by smoking machines. For those smoking cigarettes labelled low yield, the amount was eight times greater than machine yields; for smokers of high-yield cigarettes, the figure was 1.4 times higher.
The British figures on nicotine intake don't surprise other researchers. They say that tobacco in low-yield cigarettes can have as much of the harmful chemicals as high-yield brands.
"The commercial brands achieve low classifications by having holes in the filter," says neuroscientist Jed Rose, PhD. "Most people defeat the system by covering up the holes." By plugging the holes with their fingers or their lips, smokers can get full-strength smoke rather than the reduced amount the filter ventilation would provide by diluting the smoke with air.
SHARE
