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TSRC, Tob. Sci. Res. Conf., 2019, 73, abstr. 083

Tobacco emissions for canadian cigarettes: a look back on 10 years

JAKUPOVIC D.; MASOUD H.; MLADJENOVIC N.; MISCHKI
Health Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada

With an estimated 45,000 deaths attributable to smoking in Canada in 2012, it remains the leading preventable cause of disease and premature death in Canada. Since 2000, the Canadian Tobacco Reporting Regulations require cigarette manufacturers to test and submit levels of certain chemicals found in tobacco smoke for brands sold in Canada. This study examined the trends for 40 analytes found in Canadian cigarette emissions over the past decade. Descriptive statistics were computed by method and/or year, and mean concentrations by method were plotted over time for each of the 40 smoke constituents. One-way analysis of variances (ANOVAs) were used to compare means across years, using the Tukey-Kramer adjustment for multiple comparisons. Two-way ANOVA models were constructed to examine the effect of smoking method, year, as well as the interaction of smoking method and year, on each smoke constituent. While it was observed that nicotine levels have remained consistent in Canadian cigarettes, other smoke constituents have seen significant variability. In particular, overall downward trends were observed in levels of some known carcinogens, including tobacco specific nitrosamines and benzene. In addition, cigarettes labelled as “light/mild” had a chemical emissions profile significantly different than those labelled “bold/regular” under both ISO and HCI smoking methods. This study will contribute to Health Canada's understanding of cigarette smoke emissions and how they have changed over time. This data will be made publically available, consistent with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, providing access to public health researchers for further evaluation.