PORTLAND, Ore. - A study found that some
brands of cigarettes deliver a much more powerful nicotine "kick"
than others, adding to suspicions that manufacturers deliberately
blend tobacco to boost the addictive effect.
Smoke from 11 brands of cigarettes was analyzed for a specific
form of nicotine called "free base" that passes quickly into the
bloodstream when it is inhaled.
American Spirit, a brand owned by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.,
topped the list. It was followed by the French brand Gauloises
Brunes, according to the study by Oregon Health & Science
University chemist James F. Pankow. Their free-nicotine levels were
around 25 to 35 times higher than those of the lowest-level
cigarettes.
The free-base form of nicotine occurs naturally, but some
varieties of tobacco contain far more than others.
The study adds weight to claims that cigarette makers blend
tobacco varieties to manipulate the nicotine potency and boost
sales, as some industry critics have charged. The tobacco industry
has long claimed that it blends tobacco to adjust for taste, not to
increase nicotine potency.
A spokesman for R.J. Reynolds, Seth Moskowitz, said Tuesday he
had not reviewed the study and could not comment.
Acid levels in nicotine largely determine how quickly it can be
absorbed. Free-base nicotine is much less acidic than other forms
and thus gets to the brain more quickly.
Previous studies had measured the acid levels in cigarette smoke
to indirectly test for free-base nicotine. Pankow's was the first to
directly test for the chemical, according to Neal Benowitz, a
nicotine addiction expert at the University of California at San
Francisco.
"This is important," he said. "It's been suspected that
cigarettes are manufactured in a way that optimizes the free-base."
Still, he said the study was not conclusive proof that
manufacturers manipulate the level of free-base nicotine.
Pankow's study measured the first three puffs, which typically
pack the biggest nicotine punch. His artificial inhaler smoked the
cigarettes down to a roughly one-inch butt.
The nicotine delivered by American Spirits was 29 percent
free-base nicotine in the first three puffs, and 36 percent for the
rest — an exception to the general rule that the first puffs are
stronger, the study showed.
Gauloises Brunes delivered an even dose of 25 percent free-base
nicotine throughout the smoke.
The GPC brand made by Brown and Williamson had the lowest dose of
free-base nicotine at 1.6 percent for the first puffs and 1 percent
for the rest of the cigarette.
The study was published in the online version of the journal
Chemical Research in Toxicology.
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On the Net:
Chemical Research in Toxicology: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_he_me/storytext/SIG=3iinlc/*http://pubs.acs.org/journals/crtoec/index.html
RJ Reynolds Co.: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_he_me/storytext/SIG=28368r/*http://www.rjrt.com
