Influence of Type and Amount of Carbon in Cigarette Filters on Smokers’ Mouth Level Exposure to “Tar”, Nicotine, 1,3-Butadiene, Benzene, Toluene, Isoprene, and Acrylonitrile

Activated carbons are effective adsorbents for many volatile organic compounds and are used in cigarette filters to remove selected smoke toxicants. Polymer-derived carbon is more effective in removing many vapour phase toxicants found in cigarette smoke than coconut-shell-derived carbon. We compared mouth-level exposure to “tar”, nicotine and five vapour phase constituents (1,3- butadiene, benzene, toluene, isoprene, acrylonitrile) in two groups of Romanian smokers of 4-mg or 8-mg International Organization for Standardization (ISO) “tar” bands. Test cigarettes with 4 and 8 mg ISO “tar” were manufactured for the study with two target levels of polymer-derived carbon (30 mg and 56 mg), along with control cigarettes containing a target level of 56 mg of coconut-shell-derived carbon in both “tar” bands. No significant differences were found between mouth-level exposure to “tar” or nicotine yields obtained from control and test products (p > 0.05) in either ISO “tar” band. Mouth-level exposure to each of the five vapour phase constituents was significantly lower from the test products with polymer-derived carbon (p < 0.0001) than from control cigarettes with coconut-shell-derived carbon, by an average of 25% with 30 mg polymer-derived carbon and around 50% with 56 mg. [Beitr. Tabakforsch. Int. 27 (2016) 40-53]