Variations of TSNA Levels in Tobaccos Upon Heating at Moderate Temperatures

Tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) including nitrosoanabasine (NAB), nitrosoanatabine (NAT), 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK), and nitrosonornicotine (NNN) are naturally present at trace levels in tobacco. During tobacco processing, preparation of expanded tobacco, and when tobacco is used in heat-not-burn type cigarettes, the tobacco is exposed to different degrees of heat. Heating of tobacco has been reported in the literature to increase the level of TSNAs. Since the increase of TSNAs in heated tobacco is still not well understood, the present study evaluated TSNA levels in six types of tobacco as a function of moderate heat exposure. These tobaccos included: flue-cured lower stalk, flue-cured upper stalk (US), Burley lower stalk, Burley upper stalk (US), and two Oriental blends (Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Northern Republic Macedonia). Heating was performed in sealed glass tubes at oven temperatures of 100 °C, 150 °C, 200 °C, and 250 °C for time intervals of 2 min and 5 min. The temperatures inside the glass tubes were lower than the targets and were monitored separately as a function of glass tube heating. The study showed no meaningful differences within tobacco type (by stalk position) but showed considerable differences in the levels of TSNAs between different tobaccos, with the Burley tobaccos having the highest levels, and the Orientals the lowest. For all tobacco types, TSNAs increase to some extent when temperature increases. For 2-min heating, the increase in TSNAs is relatively small up to about 200 °C, but the levels almost double when the oven temperature increases to 250 °C. For 5-min heating, the increase in TSNAs starts at about 150 °C with a maximum at 200 °C which can reach more than double the initial TSNA level. Longer heating at 250 °C (5 min) starts to cause TSNAs decomposition and the levels are reduced.