The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Objective: Almost all cigarettes sold in the US (> 98%) and worldwide (>95%) use a filter to remove diverse components, including known toxins, from mainstream smoke. In order to better understand the impact of filters on the levels of chemicals in cigarette smoke, it is important to evaluate the performance of the filters from different brands of cigarettes as measured in comparative studies using: (a) standardized parameter-controlled smoking machines, and (b) humans whose diverse smoking methods are likely to alter smoke filtration and, therefore, the composition of inhaled mainstream smoke.

Methods: Filter efficacy was determined using spectrophotometry and spectrofluorometry of the total particulate matter (TPM) eluted from paper-free filter rods of cigarettes that had been machine smoked. TPM concentration reference curves were constructed using eluates of Cambridge filter pads. Comparative analyses were performed for filters from various cigarettes marketed currently and Kentucky reference cigarettes. The relative TPM values recorded were adjusted for the size (e.g., weight) differences of filter rods from different cigarette brands.

Results: Two technically simple, efficient, inexpensive and reproducible quantitative methods have been established for measuring the efficacy of cigarette filters. These protocols will prove useful for comparative analysis of the efficacy of filters from cigarettes with diverse features (e.g., regular, low-tar, charcoal and, purportedly, reduced-risk cigarettes) as well as for characterizing the performance of filters smoked by individuals with diverse smoking profiles (e.g., ventilation blocking). This study was funded in part by the Developmental Research Program of the Roswell Park Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center (TTURC).