HighlightsArsenic, cadmium and lead levels in tobacco and smoke from a worldwide sample of 568 cigarettes are presented and discussed.Enhanced retention of cadmium, but not lead, was observed in cigarettes with carbon filters compared to the other cigarettes.Differences in speciation between cadmium, arsenic and lead were related to their distribution in ash, butt and smoke streams.The transient formation of organometallic derivatives could adequately explain the observed cadmium selective filtration.

Cigarettes with menthol capsules embedded in the filter have been introduced recently in many countries. At the same time, concerns have been expressed that filter performance could be affected by the crushing of the capsule therein, altering mainstream smoke constituent yields, ultimately with the potential to impact the toxicity of these products. The present study investigates the possible mechanisms underlying differences in smoke constituent deliveries following the crushing of a menthol capsule in a cigarette filter. It also includes results from a market survey of a selection of commercial cigarette brands with menthol capsules representing the different designs for this type of product available in different markets worldwide. The yields of 46 Health Canada smoke components were determined according to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) machine-smoking regime. Data obtained from measurements using cigarettes with the capsule crushed and uncrushed were compared. Except for the intended presence of menthol flavors in smoke, no meaningful differences were identified in the yields of the remaining measured particulate-phase smoke constituents. Regarding the gas-phase smoke constituents, it was found that the delivery of lipophilic volatiles was reduced when the capsule was crushed. Delivery of the other measured gas-phase components remained unaffected. The results from investigations performed in this study did not show any meaningful increase in the yield of smoke constituents listed by Health Canada as a result of crushing the menthol capsule in the cigarette filter.