Little cigars, filtered cigars, and their carbonyl delivery relative to cigarettes

Abstract

Introduction Little cigars and filtered cigars are currently growing in popularity due to their low cost and wide variety of flavors while retaining an appearance similar to cigarettes. Given the health consequences associated with cigarette use, it is important to understand the potential harm associated with these similar products. This includes the potential harm associated with carbonyls (eg, acetaldehyde, acrolein, formaldehyde, etc.), an important class of toxicants and carcinogens in tobacco smoke. Our objective was to determine the carbonyl levels in mainstream smoke from little and filtered cigars compared to cigarettes. Methods We examined two brands each of little cigars and filtered cigars, as well as two research cigarettes for carbonyl delivery using the International Organization of Standards (ISO) and the Health Canada Intense (HCI) machine-smoking protocols. Results On a per puff basis, the levels of five of the seven carbonyls were higher from little cigars than filtered cigars and cigarettes (ISO: 56-116%; HCI: 39-85%; p