An international literature survey of "IARC Group I carcinogens" reported in mainstream cigarette smoke.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) currently lists 44 individual chemical agents, 12 groups or mixtures of chemicals and 13 exposure circumstances as "Group 1 human carcinogens". A comprehensive search of the published literature revealed that nine of the 44 chemical agents classified as "Group I carcinogens" by IARC have been reported to occur in mainstream cigarette smoke. The other 35 have never been reported to occur in cigarette smoke. The nine agents reported are benzene, cadmium, arsenic, nickel, chromium, 2-naphthyl-amine, vinyl chloride, 4-aminobiphenyl and beryllium. The reported yields of each of these nine agents in mainstream smoke varies widely. The range of yields reported for a given compound is influenced by the type of cigarette tested and when the analysis was conducted. In micrograms/cigarette, the ranges that have been reported for each of the nine compounds are: benzene (0.05-104), cadmium (0-6.67), arsenic (0-1.4), nickel (0-0.51), chromium (0.0002-0.5), 2-naphthylamine (0.0002-0.022), vinyl chloride (0.0013-0.0158), 4-aminobiphenyl (0.00019-0.005) and beryllium (0-0.0005). Although some of the variation in reported yields may be due to differences in analytical methodology, several correlations between the yield of a particular chemical in mainstream smoke and certain cigarette characteristics were observed. For example, charcoal filtration was associated with reduced vinyl chloride, and the concentration of sodium nitrate in the tobacco was positively correlated with the mainstream yield of both 2-naphthylamine and 4-aminobiphenyl. Benzene yield in mainstream cigarette smoke was correlated with the amount of tobacco burned and with the 'tar' level. Agronomic factors such as production practices and soil characteristics, and environmental conditions such as rainfall, reportedly influence the accumulation of metals, for example, cadmium, beryllium, chromium, nickel and arsenic, in the leaf. The use of fertilizers low in nitrate and heavy metals would be expected to substantially reduce the yields of most of the "IARC Group 1 carcinogens" reported to occur in mainstream cigarette smoke. Additionally, modifications in cigarette design, for instance, the use of enhanced charcoal filters or heated instead of burned tobacco, would also be expected to reduce the yields of several of these agents.

Human urine mutagenicity study comparing cigarettes which burn or primarily heat tobacco.

Cigarette smokers have been reported to void urine which is more mutagenic, as measured in the Ames assay, than urine voided by non-smokers. Condensate from the mainstream smoke of a cigarette which primarily heats tobacco (test cigarette) has shown significantly reduced mutagenicity in a battery of in vitro genotoxicity assays compared with tobacco-burning cigarettes. The objective of this study was to determine whether the reduction in mutagenic activity observed in the in vitro assays would be reflected in the urine of smokers of the test cigarette. Twenty smokers were enrolled in a 4-week crossover study, with each smoker consuming test cigarettes ad libitum for a week and their usual brand of tobacco-burning cigarettes the other 3 weeks. Diet was strictly controlled throughout the study, and broiled and pan-fried meat was not served to minimize ingestion of mutagenic protein pyrolysis products. There was no statistically significant difference (p = 0.06) in consumption of tobacco-heating and tobacco-burning cigarettes. There were no statistically significant differences (p = 0.22) in salivary cotinine concentrations for smokers when smoking either tobacco-burning or tobacco-heating cigarettes. Urinary nicotine (ng/mg creatinine) was not different (p = 0.31) for smokers when smoking either tobacco-burning or tobacco-heating cigarettes. Urinary cotinine (ng/mg creatinine) was 32% lower (p = 0.0004) when smoking tobacco-heating cigarettes as compared with smoking tobacco-burning cigarettes. Twenty-four-hour urine samples were collected twice weekly, concentrated using XAD-2 resin and tested in Ames strains TA98 and YG1024 with metabolic activation. Tobacco-burning cigarette smokers experienced a 79% reduction in urinary mutagenicity as measured in strain YG1024 and a 72% reduction as measured in strain TA98 during the week that they smoked the tobacco-heating cigarette while maintaining a fixed dietary regimen. The results of this study indicate that smokers of tobacco-heating cigarettes void urine which is significantly less mutagenic than urine voided by smokers of tobacco-burning cigarettes.

A thermographic study of the effect of body composition and ambient temperature on the accuracy of mean skin temperature calculations.

The problem associated with using measurements from a small number of sites to determine mean skin temperature was investigated by studying variations in distributions of skin temperatures of the bare torsos of humans exposed to ambient temperatures of 18, 23, and 28 degrees C. Following a 60 minute equilibration period the temperatures of four regions (chest, abdomen, upper back, and lower back) were measured using both thermistors and an infra-red thermographic system. Regions of the torso usually represented by a single temperature exhibited significant point-to-point temperature variations especially in chilled subjects. Also an earlier finding was confirmed: in that larger variations in skin temperature distributions occur as body fat content increases. Caution must therefore be used in applying the concept of a mean skin temperature derived from a few select sites, especially with nude subjects who are chilled or have a high body fat content.