Chemical and biological studies of a new cigarette that primarily heats tobacco. Part 1. Chemical composition of mainstream smoke.
A new-technology cigarette has been developed. While the new cigarette burns some tobacco, it does not use tobacco as the fuel to sustain combustion and provide heat to the cigarette. Rather, the new cigarette primarily heats tobacco thereby reducing products of smoke formation mechanisms such as tobacco combustion, tobacco pyrolysis and pyrosynthesis. The mainstream smoke composition from a cigarette based on the new design (TOB-HT) has been characterized in comparative chemical testing with two reference cigarettes using the FTC puffing regimen. Thermal properties, UV absorption characteristics, elemental composition and materials balance studies all suggest a simplified smoke aerosol. Twenty-five smoke constituents ("target compounds") identified by the scientific community as compounds that may contribute to the diseases statistically associated with smoking have also been measured. Mainstream smoke concentrations of most target compounds are significantly lower with the TOB-HT cigarette when compared with reference cigarettes in the ultra-light "tar" and light "tar" categories. Taken together, chemical analysis results suggest simplified TOB-HT smoke chemistry with marked reductions in specific chemicals reported to be biologically active.