Estimating the Yield to Smokers of Tar, Nicotine, and Carbon Monoxide from the ‘Lowest Yield’Ventilated Filter‐Cigarettes

The behavioural misuse of low‐yield, ventilated‐filter cigarettes is evaluated in two studies. The first reports the results of interviews with 46 low‐yield smokers. Fifty‐two per cent admitted to having blocked the ventilation holes on these cigarettes at some time with either lips, fingers, or tape. Although only three smokers admitted blocking the holes at the present time, 41 per cent (of the 39 who were observed smoking) gave evidence (by direct observation and by inspection of characteristic stain patterns on the filter) of currently blocking the holes. Study 2 demonstrates, using a modified smoking‐machine assay (a 2.4 sec., 47 ml puff, with a 44 sec. interval, vent‐holes blocked), how much tar, nicotine, and CO an average smoker might derive from the lowest‐yield cigarettes in the U.K., Canada, and the U.S. In comparison to standard assays, tar increases from 15‐ to 39‐fold, nicotine from 8‐ to 19‐fold and CO from 10‐ to 43‐fold. Smokers should be advised of the risks of blocking the holes of ventilated‐filter cigarettes and taught how to detect whether they are doing it. The construction of low‐yield cigarettes that will ensure low yields to smokers requires careful attention to the behaviour of smokers.