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TSRC, Tob. Sci. Res. Conf., 2009, 63, abstr. 64

Accuracy of tar yield determination and intense smoking regimes

COTE F.; VERREAULT J.; ST. CHARLES F.K.
Imperial Tobacco Canada Limited, Montreal, Canada and St. Charles Consultancy, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.

Total Particulate Matter (TPM) is determined by weight difference of the Cambridge Filter Pad (CFP) holder before and after smoking. The holder is opened, wiped and the CFP transferred into a flask for extraction. We have suspected that water could be lost between the after smoking weighing and CFP extraction. This could result in an overestimation of tar yields, especially at the more intense smoking regimes which generate higher water yields. A modification to the weighing step has been performed to reduce the delay between weighing and extraction. CFP were weighed directly in the extraction flask. The effect of the modified weighing step on smoke yield determination was established for ISO, Canadian intense and Massachusetts smoking regimes. Yields of TPM, tar, nicotine, CO and water were determined for three Canadian cigarettes (ISO tar: 4 to 14 mg; tip ventilation: 10 to 61%; blend nicotine: 2.2 to 2.5%) using the new and standard weighing steps. At intense smoking regimes, tar yields obtained using the standard weighing step were significantly higher by 14 to 26% when compared to the modified method. For the ISO regime, a less significant effect was observed. Nicotine yields were not affected. The results suggest that the standard method does not take into account the potential water loss between the pad weighing and its extraction. Modification of the weighing step can significantly improve the accuracy of tar yield determination at high smoking regimes.