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THE EFFECT OF CIGARETTE MOISTURE ON FORMATION OF PARTICULATE

PHASE OF THE MAINSTREAM TOBACCO SMOKE

Conference Paper · September 2013

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Nermina Djulančić Vesna Radojicic

University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herezegovina University of Belgrade
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THE EFFECT OF CIGARETTE MOISTURE ON FORMATION OF PARTICULATE PHASE OF THE
MAINSTREAM TOBACCO SMOKE

N. Djulancic1, V. Radojicic2, M. Srbinoska3

Scientific paper

Summary

Tobacco moisture is an important factor in smoking quality. The present study was conducted to evaluate the
importance of moisture content on chemical composition of mainstream-particulate phase of smoke from
commercial cigarettes. The study involved three cigarettes, identical in all components, except in percentage of
tobacco moisture (6.3% - dry, 14.23% - regular and 20.1% - moist cigarettes).
The results show significant differences between the formed components of particulate phase of smoke between
cigarettes with different percentage of humidity. Cigarettes with the highest moisture content had the lowest
content of total particulte matter (TPM), nicotine-free dry particulate matter (NFDPM) referred to as "tar" and
nicotine. High moisture level in the cigarette had the highest impact on reducing the nicotine content. The
change in nicotine delivery is believed to be due to the increased pyrolisis of nicotine with the increasing
moisture content.

Key words: cigarette moisture, tobacco smoke, particulate phase, tar, nicotine

INTRODUCTION

If smoking quality is related to smoke chemistry, than the composition of smoke from moist and dry cigarettes
should be quite different. Newsome and Keith [16] reported that increasing cigarette moisture reduced the
weight of smoke produced. They also reported that after taking the same number of puffs, otherwise equivalent
moist and dry cigarettes gave unequal butt lengths. Moist cigarettes give a much longer but. Kobashi et al., [13]
have reported that the combustion temperature of cigarettes is independent of moisture content. Moisture
content, as one of the physical variables of cigarettes affects the level of total particulate matter [7], although the
dry pariculate matter еxpresed as dry weight of tobacco is not much modified. A number of other reports on the
influence of moisture content on smoke indicated changes in the amount of tobacco burned during smoldering
and also changes in phenol and menthol contents [9, 17].
Some other studies were focused on the influence of filtration at different moisture levels. Esterle et al. [11],
found that the filtration coefficient of the tobacco rod is dependent on the moisture content of tobacco - high
moisture resulting in higher filtration. On the other hand, Townsend [17] concluded that lower tobacco moisture
did not affect the filtration of tobacco rod, but reduced the rate of direct condensation and aerosol formation.
The moisture of the regular produced cigarettes according to the international standard must be 12±0,5%.
Consumers today prefer consuming hand roll cigarettes, because of high market prices. In hand roll cigarettes
couldn’t be achieved optimum moisture content. As changes of moisture content in cigarettes represents some
changes in the raw material, the aim of this study was to examine the impact of changes of this parameter
delivery of particulate phase and nicotine content in the smoke.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study involved three cigarettes, identical in all components except in the percentage of tobacco moisture.
The achievement of a different moisture content in cigarettes was done by conditioning cigarettes in moisture
chambers with different relative humidities (RH). Three saturated solutions of selected salts were placed
separately in three moisture chambers. Cigarettes were then placed separately in three moisture chambers for
seven days to obtain the desired moisture content, indicated as Cigarette D for dry, Cigarette R for regular, and
Cigarette M for moist cigarettes. The saturated solutions of salts used for obtaining the desired moisture (Table
1) were selected based on the literature recommendations [10, 6]. The measurement of moisture was done using

1
Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Sarajevo,Bosnia and Herzegovina
2
Faculty of Agriculture- Zemun, University of Belgrade, Serbia
3
Scientific Tobacco Institute-Prilep, University St. Kliment-Ohridski - Bitola, Macedonia
Correspondence: Ass.professor. Dr. Nermina Đulančić, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Zmaja od Bosne 8, 71 000 Sarajevo Bosnia and
Herezgovina; e-mail:n.djulancic@ppf.unsa.ba
only the cigarette tobacco according to ISO 6488. After that, cigarettes were smoked on the 20-port smoking
machine (Borgwaldt RM 20/CSR) according to ISO 3308 (35 mL puff, drawn for 2 s at 60-s intervals).

Tab. 1. Conditions for making different cigarette moisture levels

Salt used in moisture Moisture in the cigarette
Cigarettes RH in chamber (%) a
chamber (%)
Cigarette D (dry) MgCl2 30.8 6.30
Cigarette R (regular) K3C6H5O7 61.5 14.23
Cigarette M (moist) NaCl 74.8 20.10
a
Measured at 25oC

TPM and NFDPM (tar) were collected on a 92-mm glass-fiber filter pad that was weighed in the holder before
and after smoking (ISO 4387). The nicotine and water contents were determined according to ISO 3400 and
ISO 10362, respectively.
Data were reported as mean standard deviation. The statistical analysis was preformed by the SPSS 16 software.
ANOVA with post hoc test analyses based on Turkey was used to compare differences between samples [8]. A
p-value of 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Also, the relationship between the components in the
smoke and the moisture in the cigarette were estimated by using the test of correlation. To determine the
strength of correlation, the classification by Maletić [15] was used.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Components that are fully deposited on the Cambridge filter are marked as particulate phase of smoke or total
smoke condensate (TPM). Major components of particulate phase of cigarette smoke are nicotine and tar. Tar is
defined as the aggregate of substances extracted from the particulate phase of smoke, after deducting the content
of nicotine and water [12].
The results of TPM, tar, nicotine and water contents of the smoke for the cigarettes at three moisture levels (D,
R and M) are listed in Table 2.

Tab. 2. Concentrations of the basic components (mg/cig.) of the particulate phase of cigarette smoke
Cigarette Puff number/cig. TPM Tar Nicotine Water
c a a a
D 6.3 13.55 ± 0.72 11.70 ± 0.25 0.94 ± 0.015 0.91 ± 0.079c
R 7.1b 12.93 ± 0.21b 10.75 ±0.25b 0.73 ± 0.025b 1.45 ± 0.025b
M 7.9a 12.62 ± 0.31c 10.37 ±0.25c 0.53 ± 0.015c 1.72 ± 0.025a
Mean values with different letters in a column are significantly different from one another (p<0.05).

Based on data presented in Table 2 it can be concluded that tobacco moisture content had a significant impact
on the amount of all components of the particulate phase of smoke. The smoke from dry cigarete (D) contained
the highest average contents of TPM, tar and nicotine and the lowest content of water. On the other hand, moist
cigarette (M) contains the lowest average level of basic component of the particulate phase of smoke and the
highest content of water.
Taking cigarette R as a standard, the TPM ratios for D/R and M/R are 1.08 and 0.98, the tar ratios of D/R and
M/R are 1.09 and 0.96, while the nicotine ratios of D/R and M/R are 1.29 and 0.73, respectively.
Very strong negative correlation was found between average levels of TPM (r = - 0.99) (Figure 1), tar (r = -
0.98) (Figure 2), nicotine (r = - 0.99) (Figure 3) and cigarette moisture. The results of very strong positive
correlation was observed between the water content and cigarette moisture (r = 0.99) (Figure 4).
 14,0 y = -0,068x + 13,954 12,0 y = -0,0977x + 12,263
TPM content

TAR (mg/cig.)
(mg/cig) R² = 0,9892 11,6 R² = 0,9757
13,5
11,2
13,0 10,8
10,4
12,5 10,0
6 9 12 15 18 21 6 9 12 15 18 21
Cigarette moisture(%) Cigarette moisture (%)

Fig. 1. TPM content as a function of cigarette Fig. 2. Tar content as a function of

moisture cigarette moisture

1
Nicotine (mg/cig.)

1,9

Water content
(mg/cig)
0,8 1,4

0,6y = -0,0295x + 1,1339 0,9 y = 0,0594x + 0,5554

R² = 0,9936 R² = 0,9906
0,4 0,4
6 9 12 15 18 21
4 8 12 16 20 24
Cigarette moisture (%) Cigarettes moisture (%)

Fig. 3. Nicotine content as a function of Fig. 4. Water content as a function of

cigarette moisture cigarette moisture

Comparison of dry (D), regular (R) and moist (M) cigarettes shows that as tobacco moisture decreases, the
smoke nicotine increases, as expected, due to the fact that nicotine is soluble in water. Delivery of smoke
nicotine was 27.77% higher for the dry (D) - regular (R) cigarette.The results demonstrate that moist tobaccos
retain more nicotine than dry tobacco. Probably, this is caused by an increasing decomposition of nicotine in the
presence of moisture. This is the major factor causing the difference in nicotine deliveries between moist,
regular and dry cigarettes.
According to the above data (Table 2), it can be concluded that the increasing of cigarette moisture results in
significant increase of puff number/cigarette (r = 0.99) (Figure 5) and water content of the particulate phase of
cigarette smoke (r = 0.98) (Figure 8). Very strong negative correlation was found between the average levels of
TPM (r = -0.98) (Figure 6), tar (r = -0.97) (Figure 7) and puff number per cigarette.

8,0 13,6 12,0

TPM content (mg/cig.)
Puff number/cig.

7,6 11,6
y = 17,861e-0,044x
TAR (mg/cig.)

y = -0,8312x + 16,842
13,2 R² = 0,9675 R² = 0,9423
7,2 11,2

6,8 10,8
y = 0,1151x + 5,5413 12,8
6,4 R² = 0,9926 10,4
6,0 12,4 10,0
6 9 12 15 18 21 6,2 6,6 7 7,4 7,8 6,2 6,6 7 7,4 7,8

Cigarette moisture (%) Puff number/cig. Puff number/cig.

Fig. 5. Puff number/cig as a function Fig. 6. TPM content as a function of Fig. 7. Tar content as a function of
of cigarette moisture puff number/cig. puff number/cig.

The results indicates that considerably less tobacco is burned when moisture is high, possibly because of a
slower combustion caused by the extra heat required to vaporize water from the cigarettes.
The strongest negative correlation (r=1) (Figure 9). was observed between the average content of nicotine in
smoke and puff number per cigarette.
 2 1,00
Water content (mg/cg)

Nicotine (mg/cig)
y = 0,5081x - 2,2477
1,8 R² = 0,9668 0,90 y = -0,2562x + 2,5537
R² = 1
1,6
0,80
1,4
0,70
1,2
0,60
1
0,8 0,50
6 6,2 6,4 6,6 6,8 7 7,2 7,4 7,6 7,8 8 6 6,4 6,8 7,2 7,6 8
Puff number/cig
Puff number/cig.
Fig. 8. Water content as a function of puff Fig. 9. Nicotine content as a function of puff
number/cig. number/cig

Since nicotine is a single, most important compound in cigarette smoke, any difference in delivery between dry,
control and moist cigarettes must be of significant organoleptic importance. The results are consistent with
previous studies [18].

CONCLUSION

Based on the results of investigations on the effect of cigarette moisture on formation of the particulate phase of
tobacco smoke and puff number per cigarette, the following conclusions can be drawn:
 The moisture content of cigarettes affects the chemical composition of basic components of the particulate
phase of smoke from commercial cigarettes. The percentages of basic compouds in TPM were different for
cigarettes with different moisture levels.
 Dry cigarettes had the highest average levels of TPM, TAR and nicotine, while water content was the
lowest. For these reasons, dry cigarettes are percieved by the smoker as stronger, harsher and more
irritating.
 Moist cigarettes had the lowest average content of basic components in TPM, but the highest content of
water. Moist tobacco retains smoke nicotine better than dry tobacco.
 With increased cigarette moisture, a significiant increase in the values of puff number per cigarette was
observed. In contrast, a significant reduction of base compounds of particulate phase was found, except for
the water content.

REFERENCES

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ISO 3400:1997 Cigarettes - Determination of alkaloids in smoke condensates - Spectrometric method.
ISO 10362-2:1994 Cigarettes - Determination of water in smoke condensates - Part 2: Karl Fischer method.
ISO 6488 2004 Tobacco and tobacco products - Determination of water content - Karl Fischer method
Daum, J. F. X. (1987): Measurement of the relative humidity of potassium, http://www.bwdocs.com.
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DeCoster, J. (2004): Data Analysis in SPSS. San Diego, CA Academic Press.
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