PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

K G Darrall

Publications and source records attributed to K G Darrall.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Determination of benzene and associated volatile compounds in mainstream cigarette smoke.

There is continuing interest, by health professionals and individuals, in the composition of mainstream tobacco smoke. Regular official surveys of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide yields are from time to time supplemented by special surveys of specific components. In this study, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to identify and quantify benzene and certain other volatile compounds of interest in the mainstream smoke of 26 cigarette brands on the UK market and of smoke from hand rolled tobacco. Validation of the method adopted demonstrated the ability to identify and to measure reliably the yields of benzene and seven other compounds: toluene, ethylbenzene, m/p-xylene, o-xylene, styrene, isoprene and acrylonitrile. Yields of these analytes were ranked and compared with the tar yields of the brands. In general terms, brands yielding < or = 3 mg of tar yielded proportionately more of the vapour phase analytes than did brands yielding > 3 mg of tar per cigarette. For many of the higher tar brands the yield of vapour phase analyte was approximately proportional to the tar yield. Smoking cigarettes with an average yield of 50 micron of benzene per cigarette has been compared with the occupational maximum exposure limit (16 mg m-3) concentration and with US studies on the home environment. Smoking the majority of brands examined could contribute significantly to the population exposure of benzene and the other volatile organic compounds considered in this study.

Acrylonitrile↗

Roll-your-own smoke yields: theoretical and practical aspects.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the key parameters that influence smoke yields from roll-your-own (RYO) cigarettes and to compare smoke yields of cigarettes made under laboratory conditions with those made by habitual RYO consumers. DESIGN AND SETTING: One-way parametric variations in the laboratory-based production of RYO cigarettes complemented by a consumer survey conducted in a busy street at Romford, Essex, United Kingdom. SUBJECTS: 26 habitual RYO consumers. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cigarette weights, puff numbers, and yields (carbon monoxide, nicotine, and tar). RESULTS: Smoke yields vary for specimen changes in weight of tobacco used, paper porosity, and the incorporation of a filter in the cigarette. Yields of cigarettes produced by 26 RYO smokers ranged from 9.9 to 21.0 mg tar per cigarette and from 0.9 to 1.8 mg nicotine per cigarette, and were generally lower than yields of laboratory-produced RYO cigarettes. CONCLUSIONS: Laboratory studies can provide useful information concerning the parameters that affect smoke yields of RYO cigarettes such as the incorporation of a filter to reduce yields. However, such studies must be complemented by surveys of cigarettes made by actual current RYO smokers. In one such investigation, it was found that the mean tar yields from cigarettes produced by 57% of the smokers were above the current maximum of 15 mg per cigarette for manufactured cigarettes. Currently 8% of manufactured cigarettes in the UK have a declared nicotine yield of greater than 1.1 mg per cigarette whereas 77% of RYO smokers produced cigarettes with a nicotine yield greater than this value.

Humans↗

Smoking machine parameters and cigarette smoke yields.

The relationship between smoking machine parameters and cigarette smoke yields of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide has been investigated. It is concluded that the order of ranking of brands for tar does not alter substantially when machine parameters are used which differ from those in the present standard international methodology. Corroborative evidence is presented documenting the variation in the value of a number of cigarette design features with alternative smoking machine parameters.

Carbon Monoxide↗