The Sidestream Task Force was created in March 1999 with the objective of developing a method for the collection and evaluation of sidestream “tar”, nicotine and carbon monoxide.

The Task Force activity during the period 2000-2001 covered essentially four phases:

• Determine the sources of discrepancy among the participating laboratories from the results of the first collaborative study, and establish robust procedures that could be followed by the different participating laboratories.
• Issue the protocols for the determination of sidestream smoke yields of “tar” and nicotine, and for the determination of carbon monoxide and optionally carbon dioxide.
• Select and distribute the set of cigarettes to be used for the tests, and perform a full collaborative study following the protocols.
• Evaluate the collaborative study results, and initiate the next steps.

This report covers the work of the Task Force from 2000-2001.  A separate report covers the work done from 2001-2002.

The work ended with the publication of the CORESTA Recommended Method (CRM) Nos. 54 and 55.