Cigarettes designed to meet ASTM standard E2187: "Standard Test Method for Measuring the Ignition Strength of Cigarettes" use mainly cigarette paper with bands around the tobacco column. These bands are defined by their width, frequency, and diffusion characteristics. However, cigarette performance on the test method depends on both band and tobacco column properties. Band diffusion is an important parameter and in a commercial or industrial lab setting is measured at 23°C. Band diffusion certainly will increase at high temperature as the band and base paper start to decompose. There is no defined test method for testing band diffusion at high temperature. High temperature band diffusion will depend on the temperature used, temperature stability, exposure time, sample placement, sample handling after heating, conditioning before testing again, and other factor readily obvious at the current time. Paper strips are placed in an oven where the temperature is set at 230°C for 30 minutes, taken out and set in the lab to condition at 23°C and 50%RH for 30 minutes and band diffusion is tested again.

Preliminary investigations showed certain factors influence band diffusion after heating at high temperature, such as band material and base paper properties. This study revealed that as citrate and chalk levels in the base increase, the band diffusion at high temperature will increase. However, this did not impact ASTM performance which is largely controlled by the target band diffusion initially selected for the cigarette design.