Mild Cigarettes Still Pack Nicotine Punch

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Smokers who choose to puff on ''light'' or ``ultralight'' cigarettes may not be getting the break from tar and nicotine they've been promised, researchers report.

Study results show that the amount of tar and nicotine inhaled by smokers depends on the number and strength of their puffs and therefore varies tremendously among smokers--even with cigarettes touted as being low in tar or nicotine.

In fact, people who smoke ``light'' or ``mild'' cigarettes inhale up to eight times as much tar and nicotine as printed on the label. People who smoked brands listing higher levels of nicotine inhaled about 1.5 times as much of these chemicals, report researchers in the January 17th issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

In the study, Jarvis and colleagues interviewed more than 2,000 adult smokers and measured levels of cotinine--a byproduct of nicotine--in their saliva. The findings appear to confirm several past studies--some conducted using smoking machines--that have suggested that the level of tar and nicotine ingested by smokers is indeed higher than that listed on the label.

The researchers explain that the information printed on cigarette labels is based on test results from such machines, which simulate smoking. But people tend to take stronger puffs than machines. Low-nicotine brands have special filters, which dilute the smoke during the machine simulation by as much as 83%. However, the filters do not appear to have the same effect when humans smoke cigarettes.

``Smokers can achieve essentially whatever delivery they desire...through taking larger and more frequent puffs and through maneuvers such as blocking ventilation holes with lips or fingers,'' the report indicates.

The authors suggest that socioeconomic and genetic factors might shape a person's preference for a certain nicotine level. In fact, people who smoked low-nicotine brands tended to be older, female and better educated. They also smoked fewer cigarettes each day, the researchers add.

SOURCE: Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2001;93:134-138.
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