The use of a novel tobacco treatment process to reduce toxicant yields in cigarette smoke

Abstract

The US Institute of Medicine has encouraged the pursuit and development of potential reduced-exposure products (PREPs) - tobacco products that substantially reduce exposure to one or more tobacco toxicants and can reasonably be expected to reduce the risk of one or more specific diseases or other adverse health effects. One potential approach is to reduce levels of some smoke toxicant precursors, such as proteins and polyphenols, in tobacco. We describe a treatment process involving aqueous tobacco extraction and treatment with protease; filtration of the extract to remove peptides, amino acids and polyphenols, and recombination of extract and treated tobacco. The process reduced levels of protein nitrogen (59%), polyphenols (33-78%) and nicotine (12%) while sugars increased 16%. ISO mainstream smoke yields of 43 toxicants were measured from cigarettes containing treated tobaccos; lower yields of tar, nicotine, carbon monoxide (16-20%), acrylonitrile, ammonia, aromatic amines, pyridine, quinolene and hydrogen cyanide (33-51%), tobacco specific nitrosamines (25-32%); phenolics (24-56%), benzene (16%), toluene (25%) and cadmium (34%) were obtained. There were significantly increased yields of formaldehyde (49%) and isoprene (17%). Reductions in sidestream yields of nitrogenous smoke toxicants and increases in sidestream yields of several carbonyls, benzo(a)pyrene and isoprene were also observed.

Laccase oxidation and removal of toxicants released during combustion processes

“…Previously, Rigobello et al, 2004 andPessêgo et al, 2011 also noted that nitric oxide readily reacted with phenolic compounds. This is quite interesting since nitric oxide like carbon monoxide have been shown not be amenable to adsorption and cannot be selectively reduced by filtration (Liu et al, 2011). Many laccase mediated degradation processes have been shown to result in less toxic products and also prevent their spreading or leaching (Canfor et al, 2008;Xu, 1996;Bollag et al, 1988;Jurado et al, 2009;Peng et al, 2008;Moreno et al, 2012;Nyanhongo et al, 2002;Kudanga et al, 2012).…”

Use of Classical Adsorption Theory to Understand the Dynamic Filtration of Volatile Toxicants in Cigarette Smoke by Active Carbons

“…Cigarette smoke also contains other toxicants that predominantly exist in aerosol droplets (Baker 1999). These species will not be available for adsorption and their reduction has to be achieved by other means Liu et al 2011).…”

Neurotoxicity may be an overlooked consequence of benzo[a]pyrene exposure that is relevant to human health risk assessment

“…The estimated concentration of BaP in ambient air is in the ng/ m 3 range, whereas occupational and domestic activities such as cooking with oil or wood combustion may lead to BaP levels ranging from 20 to 100 mg/m 3 (reviewed in [20]). According to the Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey, daily smokers consume 15.1 cigarettes per day on average [21], and one cigarette contains approximately 5.5 ng BaP [22]. Therefore, the average smoker is exposed to approximately 80 ng of BaP from cigarettes every day (i.e., about 1 ng/kg bw per day).…”