Thesis
Correspondence to Dr Gary A Giovino, Department of Community Health and Health Behavior, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, 311 Kimball Tower, 3435 Main Street, Buffalo, New York 14214-8028, USA; ggiovino@buffalo.edu
Received 24 May 2013 Accepted 8 August 2013 Published Online First 30 August 2013
e International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) currently lists 44 individual chemical agents, 12 groups or mixtures of chemicals and 13 exposure circumstances as “Group 1 human carcinogens”. A comprehensive search of the published literature revealed that nine of the 44 chemical agents classified as “Group I carcinogens” by IARC have been reported to occur in mainstream cigarette smoke. The other 35 have never been reported to occur in cigarette smoke. The nine agents reported are benzene, cadmium, arsenic, nickel, chromium, 2-naphthyl-amine, vinyl chloride, 4-aminobiphenyl and beryllium. The reported yields of each of these nine agents in mainstream smoke varies widely. The range of yields reported for a given compound is influenced by the type of cigarette tested and when the analysis was conducted. In micrograms/cigarette, the ranges that have been reported for each of the nine compounds are: benzene (0.05–104), cadmium (0–6.67), arsenic (0–1.4), nickel (0–0.51), chromium (0.0002–0.5), 2-naphthylamine (0.0002–0.022), vinyl chloride (0.0013–0.0158), 4-aminobiphenyl (0.00019–0.005) and beryllium (0–0.0005). Although some of the variation in reported yields may be due to differences in analytical methodology, several correlations between the yield of a particular chemical in mainstream smoke and certain cigarette characteristics were observed. For example, charcoal filtration was associated with reduced vinyl chloride, and the concentration of sodium nitrate in the tobacco was positively correlated with the mainstream yield of both 2-naphthylamine and 4-aminobiphenyl.
Received 24 May 2013 Accepted 8 August 2013 Published Online First 30 August 2013
e International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) currently lists 44 individual chemical agents, 12 groups or mixtures of chemicals and 13 exposure circumstances as “Group 1 human carcinogens”. A comprehensive search of the published literature revealed that nine of the 44 chemical agents classified as “Group I carcinogens” by IARC have been reported to occur in mainstream cigarette smoke. The other 35 have never been reported to occur in cigarette smoke. The nine agents reported are benzene, cadmium, arsenic, nickel, chromium, 2-naphthyl-amine, vinyl chloride, 4-aminobiphenyl and beryllium. The reported yields of each of these nine agents in mainstream smoke varies widely. The range of yields reported for a given compound is influenced by the type of cigarette tested and when the analysis was conducted. In micrograms/cigarette, the ranges that have been reported for each of the nine compounds are: benzene (0.05–104), cadmium (0–6.67), arsenic (0–1.4), nickel (0–0.51), chromium (0.0002–0.5), 2-naphthylamine (0.0002–0.022), vinyl chloride (0.0013–0.0158), 4-aminobiphenyl (0.00019–0.005) and beryllium (0–0.0005). Although some of the variation in reported yields may be due to differences in analytical methodology, several correlations between the yield of a particular chemical in mainstream smoke and certain cigarette characteristics were observed. For example, charcoal filtration was associated with reduced vinyl chloride, and the concentration of sodium nitrate in the tobacco was positively correlated with the mainstream yield of both 2-naphthylamine and 4-aminobiphenyl.