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Effect of Charcoal in Cigarette Filters on Free Radicals in Mainstream Smoke - PubMed

  • ️Mon Jan 01 2018

Effect of Charcoal in Cigarette Filters on Free Radicals in Mainstream Smoke

Reema Goel et al. Chem Res Toxicol. 2018.

Abstract

The addition of charcoal in cigarette filters may be an effective means of reducing many toxicants from tobacco smoke. Free radicals are a highly reactive class of oxidants abundant in cigarette smoke, and here we evaluated the effectiveness of charcoal to reduce free radical delivery by comparing radical yields from commercially available cigarettes with charcoal-infused filters to those without and by examining the effects of incorporating charcoal into conventional cigarette filters on radical production. Commercial cigarettes containing charcoal filters produced 40% fewer gas-phase radicals than did regular cellulose acetate filter cigarettes when smoked using the International Organization of Standardization (ISO, p = 0.07) and Canadian Intense (CI, p < 0.01) smoking protocols. While mean-particulate-phase radicals were 25-27% lower in charcoal cigarettes, differences from noncharcoal products were not significant ( p = 0.06-0.22). When cellulose acetate cigarette filters were modified to incorporate different types and amounts of activated charcoal, reductions in gas-phase (>70%), but not particulate-phase, radicals were observed. The reductions in gas-phase radicals were similar for the three types of charcoal. Decreases in radical production were dose-responsive with increasing amounts of charcoal (25-300 mg) with as little as 25 mg of activated charcoal reducing gas-phase radicals by 41%. In all studies, charcoal had less of an effect on nicotine delivery, which was decreased 33% at the maximal amount of charcoal tested (300 mg). Overall, these results support the potential consideration of charcoal in cigarette filters as a means to reduce exposure to toxic free radicals from cigarettes and other combustible tobacco products.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare the following competing financial interest(s): JF has done paid consulting for pharmaceutical companies involved in producing smoking cessation medications including GSK, Pfizer, Novartis, J&J, and Cypress Bioscience, and has received a research grant and study drug from Pfizer (not relating to cigarette emissions or free radical measurement).

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.

Pictorial representation showing the construction of a modified 1R6F charcoal filter cigarette. Both ends of the filter were inserted into a cigarette holder to create a plug–space–plug configuration that was tightly packed with charcoal and glass beads. Ventilation holes on the filter were completely blocked in the modified cigarette.

Figure 2.
Figure 2.

(a) Gas- and particulate-phase free radical yields from a commercial charcoal filter (CF) and cellulose acetate filter (AF) per cigarette under ISO and CI standardized smoking regimens. (b) Photographs showing the design and distribution of charcoal in the commercial cigarettes filters used in this study. All of the cigarettes tested were of the carbon-on-tow design where the charcoal was distributed evenly across a portion of the filter. ISO = machine smoked with 35 mL puff volume, 60 s puff interval, 2 s puff duration, and filter vents open; CI = machine smoked with 55 mL puff volume, 30 s puff interval, 2 s puff duration, and filter vents 100% blocked. Values are mean ± standard deviation (n = 3–4).

Figure 3.
Figure 3.

Free radical and nicotine yields per cigarette with 300 mg of charcoal of different types (A–C) compared to 300 mg glass beads incorporated in the 1R6F cigarette filter as the plug design. Cigarettes were smoked with the CI standardized smoking regimen. Values are mean ± standard deviation (n = 3–5). Different letters indicate significantly different (p < 0.05) values, and ns indicates not significant.

Figure 4.
Figure 4.

Free radical and nicotine yields per cigarette with 0–300 mg type C charcoal incorporated in the 1R6F cigarette filter as the plug design. Cigarettes were smoked with the CI standardized smoking regimen. Values are mean ± standard deviation (n = 5–6). Different letters indicate significantly different (p < 0.05) values.

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