Tobacco Documents Online

This is a summary of an NCI conference based on research program designed to reduce the risk of cigarette smokers through the development of less hazardous cigarettes. This conference intended to obtain consensus on acceptable experimental conditions and animal subjects to determine effects of exposure to tobacco smoke. Topics of experimental studies summarized look include: mechanisms of whole smoke or single smoke components, pathogenesis of particular diseases, and screening of less hazardous cigarette models. Two debates in particular that arose were how to distinguish the causal factors of lung cancer and other pulmonary diseases, and how to accurately measure dose uptake in animal subjects.

SEX-III (Smoking Exposure Study III) study comparing smoking behavior in 1972 2509 smoker sample with 1968 SEX-I participants. SEX-I was able to predict various indices of smoker behavior based on nicotine delivery levels and demographic information. SEX-III intended to assess changes in behavior due to changes in characteristics in smokers and/or change in cigarettes that were smoked. Results show that smokers in 1972 smoked cigarettes with less tar and nicotine, but smoked more of the rod of the cigarette and more cigarettes. Conclude that tar/nicotine quota is operative.

Study designed to answer the question: "To what extent is daily smoke intake a function of the cigarette smoked?" and to determine whether such changes occur within smoking of a single cigarette, or as a function of the number of cigarettes smoked. Study design includes smokers switched from higher and lower delivery cigarettes, with values recorded for mean daily smoke intake, number of cigarettes smoked, and mean smoke intake/cigarette/day. Concludes that further research is contingent on findings, with the goal to establish how puffing profiles are altered to affect the reduction or increase in intake.

Study concluding that smokers, smoking cigarettes with differing levels of nicotine, alter their behavior in order to receive a constant level of nicotine from each cigarette. Suggests future study on holding nicotine level constant and measuring behavior changes depending on environmental situation (i.e., stress), thereby measuring effect of different environmental situations on changes in desired nicotine levels.

Preliminary evidence shows that inhalation behavior is altered as a function of nicotine delivery. Lower nicotine cigarettes were smoked with larger inspiratory volumes compared than high nicotine cigarettes. The proposed research seeks to answer if the smoker's larger intake is due to a desire for similar levels of nicotine - inhalation parameters will be measured in relation to nicotine retention.

Draft of report on Consumer Demand Responsiveness (CDR), an approach in which consumer descriptions are translated into data useful in future design. Smoker behavior and its influence on response are assessed, as are measured per puff deliveries. A cigarette is characterized by a curve (capability curve) which represents all nicotine and condensate deliveries perceived by the smokers (based on puff volume measurements.) Notes that capability curves of low tar cigarettes show that smoers can get the nicotine values of standard brands. Discusses procedures for obtaining and making use of CDR values. Appendix provides definition for elasticity.

Report on seven-month brand switching study to determine if changes recorded in smokers' profiles upon changing brands are permanent; to collect data on changes in response to physical properties of cigarette; to correlate data with smokers' subjective response (no correlation found); and to determine if cigarette delivery is a factor in number of cigarettes smoked. Findings: 1) Smokers in general are capable of taking very large puff volumes. Puffs of 60 cc are common, and one smoker exceeded 130 cc. 2) Smokers can vary their puffs over a wide range. 75-86% increase from low to high are not unusual. 3) Some smokers are very consistent in their average puff volume on a given brand while others show continued variation. 4) Trend to larger puff volumes on Merit Ultra Lights. Concludes that smokers have different smoking averages, but similarities are noted within a given brand or brands with similar properties; and that smokers have a great capacity to vary puff volume profile.

Lays out the goals and objectives of a research study on human smoking habits. Summarizes past findings that nicotine yield "depends more on the smoker himself than on the cigarette he smokes" and speculates that within a given brand the need for nicotine "is quite different between individuals...leading to a wide spectrum of the actual parameters." Claims that smoking provides a "short-term regulated system" for nicotine delivery "settled by the smoker at each puff, more or less independently of the available quantity." Determines a need to pursue the question of whether specific products are suited to specific smokers, through investigation of smoking behavior of "a few well selected smokers". Concludes with a list of objectives to achieve the stated goal.

Summarizes results of a study involving variations in tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide deliveries obtained by smokers of the same brand. Delineates methods of study, number of study subjects, how puffing profiles were recorded, and the duplication of mouth smoke deliveries. Includes tables containing average puff volumes, flow rates, puff durations, puff intervals and puff numbers for each of the 13 subjects." Concludes that in the present study, smokers were fairly "consistent in their smoking behavious over the time period of the experiment and that, in spite or wide differences between smokers, the average smoke deliveries were not very different from the standard machine derived deliveries." Includes references.

Public statement by B&W addressing Barclay controversy and use of Actron filter. Claims that the Actron filter improves taste delivery through unique smoke swirl impacting a large number of taste sensors in the mouth simultaneously. Discusses deficiencies of FTC machine testing system, and argues against singling out Barclay cigarettes for exclusion from this test methodology given the many modes of compensation possible among brands for human smokers.