Chemical Studies on Tobacco Smoke: XX: Smoke Analysis of Cigarettes Made from Bright Tobaccos Differing in Variety and Stalk Positions

Leaves taken from eight different stalk positions of four bright-tobacco varieties were used to make 85-mm cigarettes. The cigarettes were smoked under standard conditions, and the mainstream smoke was analysed for selected toxic agents. The results demonstrate that the higher the leaf on the stalk, the less its filling power and combustibility and the greater the pH, total particulate matter, nicotine, hydrogen cyanide, volatile phenols, and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons of the mainstream smoke. Carbon monoxide, acetaldehyde, and acrolein are found in the highest concentration in the smoke formed from leaves in the middle stalk positions. The concentration of CO₂ was comparable for the smoke from the leaves of all stalk positions of a given bright-tobacco variety. These chemical-analytical data suggest that the relative potential toxicity and tumorigenicity of the smoke of bright tobacco increase with the ascending stalk position of the leaf.