SH Reactivity of cigarette smoke and its correlation with carcinogenic effects on hamster lung cultures.

After hamster lung cultures were exposed repeatedly to puffs of fresh smoke from 7 types of cigarettes containing variable amounts of particulate and gas vapour phase components, atypical growth and/or malignant cell transformation were observed within a period of 3-6 months. A positive correlation was demonstrable between high SH reactivity and high NO content of the gas vapour phase and malignant transformation. There was no positive correlation for the other analyzed components of the smoke, including tar content.