Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 82 (2016) 111e126

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Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/yrtph

Influence of cigarette circumference on smoke chemistry, biological

activity, and smoking behaviour
Kevin McAdam a, *, Alison Eldridge a, Ian M. Fearon a, Chuan Liu a, Andrew Manson a,
James Murphy a, Andrew Porter b
a
Group Research & Development, British American Tobacco (BAT), Regents Park Road, Southampton, SO15 8TL, UK
b
3810 Saint Antoine West, Montreal, QC, Canada

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Cigarettes with reduced circumference are increasingly popular in some countries, hence it is important
Received 28 July 2016 to understand the effects of circumference reduction on their burning behaviour, smoke chemistry and
Received in revised form bioactivity. Reducing circumference reduces tobacco mass burn rate, puff count and static burn time, and
8 September 2016
increases draw resistance and rod length burned during puff and smoulder periods. Smoulder temper-
Accepted 11 September 2016
Available online 12 September 2016
ature increases with decreasing circumference, but with no discernible effect on cigarette ignition
propensity during a standard test. At constant packing density, mainstream (MS) and sidestream (SS) tar
and nicotine yields decrease approximately linearly with decreasing circumference, as do the majority of
Keywords:
Cigarette
smoke toxicants. However, volatile aldehydes, particularly formaldehyde, show a distinctly non-linear
Circumference relationship with circumference and increases in the ratios of aldehydes to tar and nicotine have been
Smoulder observed as the circumference decreases. Mutagenic, cytotoxic and tumorigenic specific activities of
Smoke yields smoke condensates (i.e. per unit weight of condensate) decrease as circumference decreases. Recent
Bioactivity studies suggest that there is no statistical difference in mouth-level exposure to tar and nicotine among
Formaldehyde smokers of cigarettes with different circumferences. Commercially available slim cigarettes usually have
Slim changes in other cigarette design features compared with cigarettes with standard circumference, so it is
difficult to isolate the effect of circumference on the properties of commercial products. However,
available data shows that changes in cigarette circumference offer no discernible change to the harm
associated with smoking.
Crown Copyright © 2016 Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND
license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction
Although cigarette rods are generally cylindrical in shape they
can, and have, been made in a variety of lengths and circumfer-
ences. Reasons for adopting different dimensions include cost,
marketing objectives and government regulations. However
changing the cigarette dimensions may affect the smoke formation
and transport processes within the cigarette rod which in turn
could affect the yields of both mainstream (MS) and sidestream (SS)
smoke (Norman, 1999). There are also potential changes to the
Glossary and abbreviations: BAT, British American Tobacco; MLE, Mouth level
exposure; HCI, Health Canada Intense smoking regime; MS, Mainstream (smoke);
NFDPM, Nicotine-free dry particulate matter; SS, Sidestream (smoke); TPM, Total
particulate matter.
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: Kevin_McAdam@bat.com (K. McAdam).
composition of the smoke which can affect its specific biological
activity, which is the activity per unit weight of the smoke or one of
its components such as nicotine. Understanding these relationships
is important both when interpreting chemical and biological assays
associated with circumference changes and in understanding
smoker behaviour or smoker perception studies.
Although experimental cigarettes have been made with cir-
cumferences ranging from as low as 10 mm up to 70 mm (Perfetti
and Norman, 1986; Luke, 1986; Norman et al., 1988; Lewis, 1989;
White and Perfetti, 1992), the dimensions of commercial products
are limited by cigarette manufacturing machine constraints, prod-
uct performance standards and consumer acceptability. Traditional
king size cigarettes have circumferences of 24e25 mm, while
slimmer styles of cigarette can have circumferences that range from
14 to 24 mm. While the nomenclature is not standardised, ciga-
rettes with circumferences between 22 and 24 mm are often
termed “slim”, those between 19 and 22 mm are referred to as

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yrtph.2016.09.010
0273-2300/Crown Copyright © 2016 Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/
4.0/).
112 K. McAdam et al. / Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 82 (2016) 111e126
demi-slims and those in the range 14e19 mm are termed “super
slim”. There are also a few “wide” cigarettes on the market with
circumferences of 27e28 mm, which are considerably larger than
traditional king size cigarettes. Cigarettes of different circumfer-
ence can be made with or without filters and are generally found
commercially in lengths of 80e85 mm, 90e100 mm and 120 mm.
Reduced circumference cigarettes have been marketed for well
over sixty years. Early examples include the plain end and filter
versions of the Homa cigarette brand which were first produced by
the Iranian Tobacco Company in the early 1950s and 1960s,
respectively, and had circumferences of 19.75 mm (Reemstma,
1987). In 1973 Lugton (1973) described a large number of com-
mercial brands from around the world including Players No 6 Filter,
marketed as a lower cost alternative brand in the UK with a total
length of 66 mm and a circumference of 23.2 mm, as well as plain-
end cigarettes from Kenya with even lower circumferences:
21.9 mm for King Stork, 20.8 mm for Crescent and Star and 18.1 mm
for Ten Cents. Samfield (1991) described an Egyptian brand, King
George V from the mid-1950s, with a circumference of 17.4 mm.
In the US, Virginia Slims with a circumference of 23 mm and a
length of 100 mm were introduced in 1968, and the first brand
marketed as a “super slim”, Capri, was launched in 1987 and had a
circumference of 17 mm.
Currently, reduced circumference cigarette products are
becoming more popular in certain areas of the world. Markets with
the highest share of slim products are South Korea, Indonesia,
Kazakhstan and Iran where they are predominantly smoked by
adult males (Park, 2009). In the European Union, research by the
European Commission has shown that the market share of reduced
circumference cigarettes grew significantly within a declining EU
cigarette market from ~3.6% in 2006 to ~6% in 2012 (EC, 2013). This
is consistent with global trends where sales of reduced circumfer-
ence cigarettes have been reported to have grown ten times faster
than the overall market in the past five years (EC, 2013). The lack of
association between smoking prevalence rates and market share of
slim (<7.5 mm diameter, <23.6 mm circumference) cigarettes has
been confirmed by studies of smoking data in up to 96 countries for
the years 1996, 2006 and 2012 (Slater, 2016). After accounting for
socio-economic and cultural confounding factors, the correlation
between smoking prevalence and market share of slim cigarettes
for males was only significant (at P < 0.1) for one of the years (2012),
and, for females, there were no significant correlations for any of
the years.
Given the increasing interest in slim circumference cigarettes,
this review examines the effects of changing cigarette circumfer-
ence on cigarette physical properties, burn rates, combustion
temperatures, MS and SS smoke chemistry, smoke toxicity and
smoking behaviour. In this review we have made use of both peer-
reviewed papers published in the open literature as well as un-
published tobacco industry documents, sourced from the Legacy
Documents database. Also note that all the unpublished industry
documents (except a reference to Mouth Level Exposures on the
BAT website) can be easily identified since they include a link to the
Legacy website and the link is always preceded by “industry doc-
uments” or “legacy”.
The review focuses mainly on the effects of circumference
change alone, so that the influence of confounding design variables
can be avoided. These data are mostly available from experimental
studies performed by tobacco industry laboratories in which series
of cigarettes with only changes in circumference were designed and
tested. However commercial, low circumference cigarettes are
designed to be acceptable to smokers and other design features
such as levels of filter ventilation, tobacco packing density or paper
porosity may also change. It is beyond the scope of this review to
assess the interaction of other variables with circumference on, for
example, smoke chemistry or bioactivity. However some studies of
smoke toxicants from commercial low circumference cigarettes are
also reviewed in section 9.3.
Historically, the effects of cigarette rod circumference have been
well studied (e.g. Arany-Fuzessery et al., 1982; Gugan, 1966;
Muramatsu, 1981; 2005; Resnik et al., 1977; Yamamoto, 1981)
with the first investigations, which focused on nicotine yields,
dating back to 1936 (Wenusch, 1936). Further research coincided
with the commercialisation of lower circumference cigarettes in
the 1950s, and with the introduction of the Cigarette Safety Act in
the mid-1980s when cigarette circumference was one of the vari-
ables studied in attempts to understand ignition propensity of
cigarettes. A new phase, currently ongoing, involves analysing
market trends towards slimmer cigarettes, as well as research into
reduced toxicant prototype cigarettes (Dittrich et al., 2014). In
reference to the latter aspect, reducing circumference has been one
of a number of cigarette design parameters that have been inves-
tigated as a potential route towards harm reduction (Branton et al.,
2011a; Branton et al., 2011b; Liu et al., 2011; McAdam et al., 2011;
McAdam et al., 2012).
2. Physical properties of the cigarette
Circumference is one of several variables that can be altered
during cigarette design and, as will be seen in this review, it has an
impact on cigarette physical properties as well as smoke chemistry
and bioactivity.
There are two major physical changes that occur when cigarette
circumference is reduced. The first, perhaps self-evident, is that at a
constant packing density (the density of tobacco in the cigarette
rod) and tobacco rod length, the tobacco weight is reduced in
proportion to the volume reduction, or cross-sectional area. The
second is that resistance to draw, or pressure drop, increases in
inverse proportion to the reduced cross-sectional area at a constant
volumetric flow. In mathematical terms the pressure drop along a
tobacco rod can be described (Schneider and Schluter, 1987) by a
modified Kozeny-Carman equation (Carman, 1956). The Kozeny-
Carman equation is used in the field of fluid dynamics to calcu-
late the pressure drop of a fluid flowing through a packed bed of
solids under lamina flow. For a tobacco rod the equation can be
written as:
h . i
PD ¼ K ðrP =rT Þ2 ð1  rP =rT Þ3 F=A
h . i .
¼ K ðrP =rT Þ2 ð1  rP =rT Þ3 F4p C 2
Where K is an empirical factor related to the tobacco particle shape
and tortuosity of the spaces between the particles, F is the flow rate
of air drawn through the rod, A is the cross-sectional area of the
cigarette, C is the circumference, rP is the packing density and rT is
the density of the tobacco shreds.
The equation shows that pressure drop is inversely proportional
to the cross sectional area, or square of circumference, and it is also
very sensitive to the packing density of the blend, rP. Several au-
thors (Norman, 1999; Hook, 1985) have pointed out that many of
the early studies of the effects of circumference change either failed
to adequately control packing density (e.g. Wenusch, 1936), or
deliberately altered packing density to obtain a constant pressure
drop. Since pressure drop affects ventilation into the smoke stream
through the paper or filter as well as the filtration of smoke par-
ticulate along the rod (Norman, 1999) some of the early studies
relating cigarette circumference to other cigarette physical prop-
erties and smoke yields may not be reliable.
 K. McAdam et al. / Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 82 (2016) 111e126
3. Burn rate and puff number
The smouldering and puffing processes in a burning cigarette
have been studied extensively and have been comprehensively
reviewed (Baker, 1981; 1999). During free smoulder, cigarette
combustion is maintained by diffusion of oxygen through the
charred burn-line zone of the cigarette paper into the back of the
burning coal as shown in Fig. 1a. As the circumference is reduced
and the tobacco weight per unit rod length decreases, the smoulder
rate is affected: the rate at which the length of tobacco rod is
consumed (“linear burn rate”) increases while the rate at which
tobacco is consumed (“mass burn rate”) is reduced (Ivinson, 1962;
Rice, 1968; Rice et al., 1970; Lugton, 1971; Resnik et al., 1977;
Muramatsu, 1981; Perfetti et al., 1983; Arany-Fuzessery et al.,
1982). This is illustrated in Fig. 2 which shows the linear and mass
burn rates for tobacco rods with circumferences ranging from 19 to
31 mm (Lugton, 1971). Over this range of circumferences the linear
burn rate is inversely proportional to the circumference while the
mass burn rate is directly proportional to the circumference.
Yi et al. (2001) developed a semi-empirical mathematical model
to describe free-smouldering behaviour of cigarettes. Their results
for mass and linear burn rates were in good agreement with
experimental values obtained by Rice et al. (1970) and Resnik et al.
(1977). Their model also showed that mass burn rate was more
sensitive to changes in circumference than changes in packing
density, as also found experimentally.
During puffing, air is drawn along the tobacco rod and through
the coal (Fig. 1b). At the start of the puff the coal temperature
Fig. 1. The burning cigarette during smouldering and puffing (after Baker, 1981).
113
increases rapidly, from about 600  C to greater than 900  C, which
causes the impedance to gas flow within the coal to increase. As the
puff proceeds, air tends to preferentially enter the burning zone of
the cigarette behind the paper burn line where the draw resistance
is lowest (Baker, 1999). The exothermic combustion of tobacco in
this region causes the periphery of the tobacco rod to burn down
more rapidly than the central zone, resulting in an elongated coal
section. At the end of the puff, the periphery cools quickly and the
paper burn line stops advancing. At the same time the center of the
coal advances more rapidly until the coal resumes its initial shape.
The time between the end of the puff and the re-establishment of
the coal shape may take 15e20 s (Li et al., 2016).
There have been several studies of burn rates during puffing
(Egerton et al., 1963; Resnik et al., 1977; Yamamoto, 1981;
Muramatsu, 1981; Perfetti et al., 1983). All the studies showed
that under puffing conditions decreasing the circumference of the
cigarette at constant tobacco density decreases the volume (and
therefore mass) of tobacco consumed during the puff and during
the inter-puff smoulder period. Yamamoto (1981) for example
measured weight losses during puffing for a series of unfiltered
tobacco rods with circumferences in the range 20.5e27.0 mm. As
the circumference decreased the weight losses also decreased.
Muramatsu (1981) measured the linear burn rates during smoking
of unfiltered tobacco rods with constant packing density and cir-
cumferences ranging from 20.3 to 26.1 mm. Linear burn rates
during puffing were about 20 times faster than during free
smoulder, while between puffs the smoulder rates were about 20%
slower on average than with a cigarette smouldering in a non-
114 K. McAdam et al. / Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 82 (2016) 111e126
LBR (mm/min)
5.0
4.5
4.0
3.5
3.0
20.0 22.5 25.0 27.5
Fig. 2. Linear (LBR) and mass (MBR) burn rates vs circumference during free smoulder of 70 mm untipped cigarettes. Data from Lugton, 1971.
puffed experiment. The length burned during puffing (2 s puffs)
was, on average, about 18% greater than that between puffs (58s
intervals).
Perfetti et al. (1983) measured burn rates during the puff and
during the inter-puff smoulder period. Unfiltered tobacco rods,
with circumferences of 21.5e24.7 mm, were each smoked at three
puff volumes (20, 35, and 65 mL) for a 2-s duration corresponding
to flow rates of 10, 17.5 and 32.5 mL/s. The length of tobacco rod
burned during the puff increased linearly with decreasing
circumference. There was a 10% increase in the rod length burned
per puff for the 21.5 mm rod compared with the 24.7 mm rod. The
cross-sectional area decreased by 33% for the 21.5 mm rod
compared with the 24.7 mm rod, while the actual weight of tobacco
burned during the puff decreased by approximately 20%. Perfetti
et al. also showed that increasing puff volume increased the puff
burn rates to a similar extent at each rod circumference, but the
extent of change was not proportional to the increase in puff vol-
ume. They observed that with a 65 mL puff volume, and particularly
for smaller circumference cigarettes, the cigarette paper at the char
line and along the whole length of the rod visibly constricts during
a puff and then relaxes afterwards. With larger puff volumes, it is
likely that increased proportions of the incoming air will by-pass
the burning zone and enter through the cigarette paper. These
observations and proposed mechanism are consistent with the lack
of proportionality between the increase in rod length burned dur-
ing the puff and the increase in puff volume.
The rod length and weight of tobacco burned during the puff
may also be influenced by the extent of peripheral heat loss. Greater
peripheral heat loss from smaller circumference tobacco rods is
expected due to the greater surface area-to-volume ratio. The faster
linear burn rate which occurs with decreasing circumference also
leads to a decrease in puff number. Baker (1973) reviewed several
studies of the effect of circumference on puff number and these
showed that puff number was directly proportional to the weight of
tobacco in the cigarette (Fig. 3) or, at constant packing density, to
the cross sectional area. Irwin (1988a) also showed that puff
number was proportional to the tobacco weight burned for ciga-
rettes with circumferences in the range 13e29 mm. Baker and
Irwin's data therefore showed a good correlation between the
square of the circumference and the puff number. In contrast,
MBR (mg/min)
75
70
65
60
55
50
45
40
30.0 20.0 22.5 25.0 27.5 30.0
Circumference (mm)
Yamamoto et al. (1984) showed that over a limited range of cir-
cumferences (21e26 mm) the puff number was directly propor-
tional to the circumference. However in this relatively narrow
range of circumference Yamamoto's data also correlates equally
well with the square of circumference.
4. Combustion temperatures
Based on the increase in formation rates of CO and HCN at low
circumferences, Yamamoto et al. (1985) speculated that the puffing
temperature increased with decreasing circumference. However,
this was not supported by the experiments of Robinson (1985) and
Irwin (1988a).
Robinson (1985) measured coal surface temperature distribu-
tions during puffing and smouldering using a scanning infra-red
thermovision system. Plain cigarettes with circumferences of 13,
20 and 29 mm, at constant packing density, were compared in this
study. The peak smoulder temperatures increased linearly (by
80  C) as the circumference decreased from 29 to 13 mm. The peak
puffing temperatures increased from 889  C for the 29 mm ciga-
rette to 903  C for the 20 mm cigarette, but dropped to 851  C for
the 13 mm cigarette,. It was speculated that a low peak puff tem-
perature would be expected at higher circumferences as the air
flow is spread over a larger cross sectional area and the burn
behaviour more closely approaches the smouldering state. Rob-
inson suggested that the reduction in peak puffing temperature for
the 13 mm cigarette was due to a higher proportion of the puff
passing through the burning coal rather than through the paper at
the periphery of the combustion zone, suggesting different com-
bustion conditions for this sample.
Coal surface temperatures were also reported by Irwin (1988a)
for plain end cigarettes with circumferences of 13, 17, 20, 22,
24.75 and 29 mm. Smoulder temperatures increased linearly (by
95  C) as the circumference decreased from 29 to 13 mm. The peak
puffing temperatures for the 13 and 29 mm circumference ciga-
rettes were not significantly different from each other but were
significantly lower than those for the 17e24.75 mm circumference
cigarettes. This followed the same pattern observed by Robinson in
the previous study (Robinson, 1985). However Irwin noted that the
length of the coal increased as the circumference decreased, from
 K. McAdam et al. / Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 82 (2016) 111e126
15
14
13
12
Puff Number
11
10
6
0.50
Fig. 3. Puff number vs tobacco weight (from Baker, 1973). A is a US blend 84 mm filter cigarette, B & C are plain-end, flue-cured blend 72 mm cigarettes, and D is a 70 mm plain-end,
flue-cured lamina cigarette.
which one could conclude that more air enters the burning zone
through the periphery of the burning zone rather than through the
coal as suggested by Robinson (1985).
5. Cigarette ignition propensity
The smouldering properties of cigarettes would also be ex-
pected to affect their ignition propensities. The science behind
reduced ignition propensity cigarettes was recently reviewed by
Baker et al. (2016). Early studies to relate cigarette structural pa-
rameters to their tendency to ignite furniture fabrics were con-
ducted by the Center for Fire Research (National Bureau of
Standards, Washington, D.C.). Using a test system consisting of a
bench scale furniture mock up and 32 test cigarettes with different
construction parameters, it was found that reducing tobacco den-
sity, paper porosity and circumference (21 mm vs 25 mm) caused a
reduction in ignition proclivity (Gann et al., 1987; Krasny et al.,
1989). It was thought that reducing circumference was effective
because it reduced the weight of tobacco available to burn, as well
as reducing the contact zone responsible for heat transfer from the
cigarette to the substrate. However, the test system did not give
reliable results largely due to variations in the composition of the
fabric used. Two simpler test systems were developed. The first
used a simplified “mock-up” test, which involved placing the
smouldering cigarette on a cotton duck fabric covering a block of
polyurethane foam. The cigarette was deemed to cause ignition
when the burn line in the fabric was more than 10 mm from the
side of the cigarette and no ignition when the burn line was less
than 10 mm. The cigarette could also be classified as self-
extinguishing when a portion of the tobacco rod remained un-
burnt. The second test, the cigarette extinction test method,
involved placing the smouldering cigarette on a stack of 3, 10 or 15
layers of filter paper. This latter test measured the propensity of the
cigarette to self-extinguish.
In 2004, the American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM)
adopted the cigarette extinction test (E2187-02b; hereafter E2187)
as the standard method for ignition propensity due to ongoing
problems with obtaining consistent samples of the test fabric for
115
Study
A
B
C
D
0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50
Tobacco Weight (g)
the mock-up test (ASTM, 2004).
In 2009, Case et al. (2009) evaluated the effects of changes in the
cigarette paper, tobacco and circumference on cigarette ignition
behaviour using the ASTM E2187 standard test method. They
concluded that for cigarettes with either low porosity or banded
papers, ASTM performance was independent of cigarette circum-
ference in the range 17e26.5 mm. The same conclusion was also
reached in a later study by Coburn (2010) using a parameter set that
included tobacco type, stem level and circumference, also in the
range 17e26.5 mm.
Therefore, any influence of cigarette circumference on cigarette
ignition propensity is dependent on the test method used, with the
current standard test method insensitive to circumference changes.
There are no available data on real-world fire incidence as a func-
tion of cigarette circumference.
6. Smoke formation processes
The smoke formation and transport processes that occur in a
burning cigarette have been extensively discussed and reviewed
(e.g. Egerton et al., 1963; Baker, 1973, 1981, 1987; 1999; 2006;
DeLucia et al., 1978; Muramatsu, 1981; Norman, 1982; Sto € ber,
1982; Ingebrethsen, 1986; Jenkins and McRae, 1996; Muramatsu,
2005). Essentially, inside a burning cigarette a large variety of
chemical and physical processes are occurring simultaneously in an
oxygen-deficient environment, with temperatures up to 950  C.
The physical processes occurring during combustion can be ratio-
nalized into two principal mechanistic regionsdtermed the py-
rolysis/distillation region and the combustion region or zonedthat
exist inside the cigarette during puffing and smouldering (Fig. 1).
The vast majority of smoke products are formed in the pyrolysis/
distillation region, which is immediately downstream of the heat-
producing combustion zone. As the smoke aerosol precursors,
which consist of hot vapours and nuclei, leave this region, they cool
and the vapours condense around the nuclei to form the smoke
aerosol. Oxides of carbon are formed by both combustion and
thermal decomposition of tobacco constituents, as well as a sig-
nificant proportion of carbon monoxide being formed by the
116 K. McAdam et al. / Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 82 (2016) 111e126
carbonaceous reduction of carbon dioxide. A proportion of the
gases formed in the coal diffuse out into the SS smoke, while the
remainder is drawn along the tobacco rod into the MS smoke. The
location of these zones has been determined by mapping internal
gas concentrations (Adam et al., 2009; Hertz-Schünemann et al.,
2015), and by measuring internal density and temperature
changes (Baker, 1981; Li et al., 2016).
The quantities and chemical composition of the MS and SS
smoke are influenced by the chemical make-up of the tobacco filler,
the physical and chemical properties of the construction materials
used to design the cigarette and the combined effects of the to-
bacco, filter parameters and paper properties on the flow charac-
teristics occurring in the burning cigarette. The smoking
parameters such as puff volume, duration, and frequency of puffing
also determine how much of each smoke component is generated
and distributed into the MS and SS smoke (Baker, 1999).
7. Smoke aerosol studies and smoke particle size
The particle size distribution of the smoke aerosol influences
several important smoke properties such as its interaction with
filters and deposition in the human respiratory tract (Sto €ber, 1982;
Ingebrethsen, 1986). The undiluted smoke from the burning zone of
the cigarette consists of a highly concentrated cloud of liquid par-
ticles with number concentrations of about 1010 cm3 and with
diameters ranging from below 0.1 mm to above 1.0 mm. As the
smoke moves along the tobacco rod the smoke particles tend to
coagulate, which results in a higher average particle diameter, and a
smaller number concentration. The faster the particles move down
the tobacco rod the less time they have for coagulation and the
smaller will be the average particle size. Since for a given puff
volume the flow rate along the tobacco rod increases with
decreasing circumference, it would be expected that particle sizes
would be smaller at lower circumference. Other factors such as
particle formation, filtration, and evaporation may also have an
effect, but are thought to be less significant.
Jones and Richardson (1971) compared particle size distribu-
tions in smoke from 19 to 31 mm circumference cigarettes using a
conifuge, as a size separating sampling device. Cigarettes were
smoked under standard puffing conditions which meant that flow
rates along the 19 mm cigarette were 2.7 times faster than along the
31 mm cigarette. However there was no significant difference in
mean smoke particle size (0.26e0.29 mm) between the two ciga-
rettes calculated from the number distribution. However,
increasing the puff flow rate from 1.5 to 83 mL/s (a factor of 55)
decreased the mean particle size by only 46%, suggesting that
particle size is fairly insensitive to circumference. The number
concentrations were all in the range 1  1010 to 2  1010 mL1 but
the breadth of the experimental error prevented any trends being
observed.
Fiebelkorn and Robinson (1988) used a laser spectrometer to
characterize the smoke aerosols from two series of cigarettes,
differing in blend type with circumferences of 13, 17, 20, 22, 24.75
and 29 mm. For both series of cigarettes the count median di-
ameters of the particles decreased consistently as circumference
was reduced: from 0.206 mm (at 29 mm) to 0.143 mm (at 13 mm) for
the flue-cured product and from 0.207 mm (at 29 mm) to 0.153 mm
(at 13 mm) for the blended products. The results for the number
concentrations did not show a clear trend with circumference. For
the flue-cured series, for example, number concentrations
increased from 1.56  109 mL1 for the 29 mm product to
2.82  109 mL1 for the 22 mm product and then decreased to
1.88  109 mL1 for the 13 mm product. The apparent reduction in
particle numbers at the lower circumferences was ascribed, at least
in part, to the inability of the spectrometer to detect particles
smaller than 0.1 mm, which comprised an increasing proportion of
particles at lower circumferences. Fiebelkorn and Robinson
confirmed the importance of flow rate on particle size by adjusting
the puff volumes for each circumference to give a common flow
rate of 35.9 mL s1. Apart from a lower mean number concentration
for the 13 mm circumference cigarette, the mean particle sizes and
concentrations were very similar. These changes in particle sizes
with circumference are consistent with the higher flow rates and
decreased coagulation through the slimmer cigarettes. They also
indicate perhaps that the laser spectrometer technique is more
sensitive than the conifuge in measuring particle size.
Egilmez compared smoke aerosol properties from four com-
mercial US brands (Egilmez, 1987) with similar tar deliveries (8 mg/
cig) using a laser spectrometer. Two brands had circumferences of
25 mm and the other two had circumferences of 23 mm and 17 mm.
The ultra-slim, 17 mm product had smoke particles with count and
mass median diameters of 0.17 mm and 0.27 mm respectively,
compared with the three other brands which had similar count and
mass median diameters of 0.19 mm and 0.31 mm respectively. Since
the brands differed in other construction parameters it was not
possible to attribute the smaller mean smoke particle size of the
ultra-slim product to circumference alone.
8. MS smoke yields
Reducing circumference affects both particulate and gas phase
yields by reducing the total amount of tobacco burnt; this means it
will take less time for the tobacco rod to burn and will result in fewer
puffs. In the case of particulate smoke yields however this is partially
off-set by a reduction in the filtration efficiency of the tobacco rod
and filter, if present, due to the increased velocity of the smoke
stream (Norman, 1999). For gas phase components the decrease in
area of the paper and the higher flow rates along the rod will result
in less diffusional losses. An additional factor affecting smoke yields
is the decrease in “dead volume” that occurs as the circumference is
reduced. For example, it can be calculated that the dead volume for
the first puff of an 84 mm cigarette will change from approximately
17% of a 35 mL puff at 30 mm circumference to approximately 4% of a
35 mL puff at 15 mm circumference e this reflects the proportion of
smoke generated within a puff that does not leave the rod during the
puff in which it is generated. Smoke retained within the rod in this
way can condense out onto tobacco or join the SS plume escaping
the cigarette.
8.1. MS tar, nicotine and CO yields
There have been a number of published and unpublished in-
dustry studies that have reported yields of the tar (also termed
nicotine-free dry particulate matter or NFDPM), nicotine and CO
from cigarettes with different circumferences (Supplementary
Table 1). Unfortunately many of the studies cannot be used to
investigate the effect of circumference alone on smoke yields. Some
did not use a standard machine smoking regime such as the ISO
puffing parameters (2 s, 35 mL puff, once a minute) (Ivinson, 1962),
some only reported total particulate matter rather than tar
(NFDPM) (Lugton, 1971), and some used cigarette samples that did
not control parameters other than circumference, such as packing
density (Wenusch, 1936) or filter pressure drop (Reynolds and
Maya, 1970). Figs. 4e6 show the yields of tar, nicotine and CO
from three series of cigarettes (Irwin, 1989c; Izac, 1993) made with
different blends, with circumferences in the range 13e29 mm and
the same tobacco packing densities within each series. There were
strong positive linear correlations between the yields and circum-
ferences. In the case of CO there were indications that at the highest
circumferences the yields appear to be reaching a plateau. Similar
 K. McAdam et al. / Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 82 (2016) 111e126 117

35 Irwin, 1989c (FC)

Irwin, 1989c (US)
Izak , 1993
30

25

Tar (mg/cigarette)
20

15

10

5
15 20 25 30
Circumference (mm)

Fig. 4. Tar vs circumference with linear regressions for three series of cigarettes. The data used from Irwin, 1989c are for NFDPM measured using flue-cured (FC) and US blend (US)
cigarettes. The data from Izac, 1993 are for FTC tar measured using US blend cigarettes.

results were reported by DeBardeleben et al. (1978) for CO from
cigarettes with circumferences in the range 23e26 mm. The
levelling-off of the CO yields for the higher circumference cigarettes
was ascribed in part to increased CO diffusion.
Yamamoto et al. (1984) also found linear correlations between
tar and nicotine yields and circumference for two sets of filter
cigarettes made with either a US blend or Virginia tobacco, and
having circumferences in the range 21.1e25.8 mm. They measured
the amounts of tar and nicotine trapped in the 20 mm filter and
10 mm tobacco butt remaining after smoking, and confirmed that
the amounts of trapped tar and nicotine as a proportion of the total
yields decreased with decreasing circumference as a result of the
increased smoke velocity. Both Lugton (1971) and Yamamoto et al.
(1984) also showed that the MS yields of tar and nicotine were
directly related to the weight of tobacco lost during puffing for
cigarettes with circumferences in the ranges 21 to 26 mm and
19e31 mm, respectively.
Perfetti et al. (1983) studied puff-by-puff and total deliveries of
tar and nicotine from unfiltered tobacco rods with circumferences
in the range 21.5e24.7 mm and constant packing densities. The
major conclusions were that a 13% decrease in rod circumference
(24.7e21.5 mm), corresponding to a 25% reduction in rod weight,
resulted in a 10% decrease in puff count and reductions in yields of
(FTC Federal Trade Commission) tar and nicotine of 15% and 17%,
respectively.
8.2. The nicotine/tar ratio
The study by Perfetti et al. (1983), referred to above, showed a
small decrease (2.8%) in nicotine/tar ratio as the circumference

3.0 Irwin, 1988a (FC)

Irwin, 1988a (US)
Izak , 1993

2.5
Nicotine (mg/cigarette)

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

15 20 25 30
Circumference (mm)

Fig. 5. Nicotine vs circumference with linear regressions for three series of cigarettes. The data from Irwin, 1988a are for flue-cured (FC) and US blend (US) cigarettes. The data from
Izac, 1993 are for US blend cigarettes.
118 K. McAdam et al. / Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 82 (2016) 111e126
22.5
20.0
17.5
CO (mg/cigarette)
15.0
12.5
10.0
7.5
5.0
15
Circumference (mm)
Fig. 6. CO vs circumference with quadratic regressions for three series of cigarettes. The data from Irwin, 1988a are for flue-cured (FC) and US blend (US) cigarettes. The data from
Izac, 1993 are for US blend cigarettes.
decreases from 24.7 to 21.5 mm. Robinson (1987) found a 32%
reduction in the nicotine/TPM ratio when circumference was
reduced from 29 to 13 mm. Robinson ascribed the increase in
nicotine/TPM with circumference to the lower flow rate in the
wider rods which “enabled the aerosol to absorb the nicotine more
effectively”. Other studies have not shown a consistent relation
between circumference and nicotine/tar ratios. Both Izac (1993)
and Irwin (1988a) found nicotine/tar ratios that increased with
circumference above 20 mm but also increased as circumference
was reduced below 20 mm.
8.3. Machine smoking regime
Greig and Wan (2005) compared MS tar, nicotine and CO de-
liveries from super slim (17 mm) and standard (24.6 mm)
circumference products when smoked under two different smok-
ing regimes: ISO - one 35 mL, 2 s puff per minute (ISO, 2012); and a
modified intense regime - two 55 mL, 2 s puffs per minute, vents
open. There were no statistically significant differences between
the ratios of tar, nicotine and CO deliveries under the two different
smoking regimes for the super slim and standard circumference
products.
Perfetti et al. (1983) measured tar and nicotine yields from
different circumference cigarettes smoked at 20, 35 and 60 mL puff
volumes. Total per cigarette yields were calculated from individual
puff by puff deliveries, and the results showed no consistent ratios
between yields at different puff volumes across the circumference
range 21.5e24.7 mm.
9. MS smoke toxicants
There have been a number of reports describing the effects of
circumference changes on the yields of various smoke toxicants
including carbonyls (Yamazaki and Saito, 1978; Irwin, 1989c;
Parrish et al., 1989; Izac, 1993; Case et al., 2005; Dittrich et al.,
2014), phenols (Lugton, 1971; Irwin, 1988a, 1989a, 1989c; Dittrich
et al., 2014), nitric oxide (NO) (Irwin, 1988a, 1989c; Izac, 1993;
Dittrich et al., 2014), hydrogen cyanide (HCN) (Irwin, 1988a;
1989c; Izac, 1993; Dittrich et al., 2014), benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P)
Irwin, 1988a (FC)
Irwin, 1988a (US)
Izak , 1993
20 25 30
(Lugton, 1971; Dittrich et al., 2014), cadmium (Irwin, 1989c),
ammonia (Parrish et al., 1989; Siu et al., 2012; Dittrich et al., 2014),
organic volatiles (Lugton, 1971; Irwin, 1989c; Randolph and Parrish,
1988; Dittrich et al., 2014) and nitrosamines (Irwin, 1988b; 1989b;
Izac, 1993; Dittrich et al., 2014). The effects of circumference on
these toxicants are summarised in Supplementary Table 1. The
yields of the majority of toxicants, including nitrosamines, NO,
phenols, B[a]P, HCN and cadmium, decrease with decreasing ciga-
rette circumference in an approximately linear fashion, although
yields of NO, HCN and phenols are fairly level at circumferences
greater than 25 mm.
Carbonyl yields, particularly those of formaldehyde, show
distinctly non-linear relationships with circumference. The MS
formaldehyde yields from experimental studies covered by this
review are summarised in Supplementary Table 2. Fig. 7 shows
acetaldehyde and formaldehyde yields from 3 studies (Irwin,
1989c; Izac, 1993; Yamazaki and Saito, 1978). The yields have
been normalised to those at 17 mm (acetaldehyde) and 25 mm
(formaldehyde) circumferences to simplify comparisons between
studies. Acetaldehyde yields (Irwin, 1989c; Izac, 1993) decreased
with circumference but showed a distinctly steeper decline for
circumferences below 24 mm. Irwin (1989c) found that formalde-
hyde yields increased slightly as circumferences decreased from 29
to 22 mm, but then decreased as circumferences decreased from 20
to 13 mm. Yamazaki and Saito (1978) found no clear trend of
formaldehyde yields from cigarettes within the narrower circum-
ference range of 23e26 mm.
The anomalous behaviour of the aldehydes has also been noted
by Case et al. (2005) who reported higher formaldehyde yields for
17 mm vs 25 mm circumference products, and by Parrish et al.
(1989) who observed higher formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and
acrolein yields at 20 mm circumference than at 17 and 25 mm.
However it should be noted that these latter two studies used
cigarettes that differed in filter efficiencies as well as circumference.
Dittrich et al. (2014) described a series of prototype, reduced-
toxicant cigarettes which included three 7 mg ISO NFDPM yield
cigarettes manufactured at 17, 21 and 24.6 mm circumferences but
with the same tobacco blend and packing density. Changes were
made to the cigarette paper, filter pressure drop and ventilation
 K. McAdam et al. / Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 82 (2016) 111e126
2.00
1.75
Normalised aldehyde yields
1.50
1.25
1.00
0.75
0.50
15
Circumference (mm)
Fig. 7. Relative yields of acetaldehyde and formaldehyde vs circumference using data from Irwin, 1989c; Izac, 1993 and Yamazaki and Saito, 1978. Yields are normalised to 17 mm
circumference (acetaldehyde) and to 25 mm (formaldehyde).
levels to offset the effect of tobacco weight and maintain the
NFDPM specification. The cigarettes were smoked under Health
Canada Intense (HCI) conditions and MS yields of tar, nicotine, CO
and 44 smoke toxicants (those mandated to be reported to Health
Canada) were measured. For all toxicants except pyridine, nitric
oxide and formaldehyde the yields either diminished as circum-
ference decreased or the differences between yields were not sig-
nificant. Pyridine showed a maximum yield at 21 mm
circumference while nitric oxide showed a minimum yield at
21 mm. Of all the toxicants, only formaldehyde yields increased
monotonically as circumference decreased.
The involvement of free-radicals in cell transformation pro-
cesses has led to the proposal of various mechanisms by which
free-radicals in cigarette smoke may be involved in disease pro-
cesses related to smoking (Church and Pryor, 1985). Free radical
concentrations in TPM were measured by Matkin (1988) for plain-
end, US blend cigarettes with circumferences of 13, 17, 20, 22, 24.75
and 29 mm. Whole smoke from the 3rd puff was collected in a
quartz cell and free radical concentrations were estimated from the
chemiluminescence of the smoke using a photomultiplier detector.
Free radical concentrations in the TPM decreased by approximately
28% as circumference decreased from 29 to 13 mm. There was no
explanation for this trend.
9.1. Toxicant yields per gram of tobacco
When expressed on a per gram of tobacco burnt basis, Izac
(1993) found that yields of CO, NO, HCN, water and total alde-
hydes increase as the circumference decreases, while TSNA and
nicotine yields per unit weight of tobacco have no clear relationship
with circumference. Irwin (1989c) similarly found that yields of
aldehydes, CO, NO, HCN, phenols and cadmium per unit weight of
tobacco increase as circumference is decreased. Fig. 8 shows Irwin's
data for the yields per unit weight of tobacco for formaldehyde,
acrolein and acetaldehyde normalised to the yield at 29 mm. Yields
per unit weight of tobacco increase as circumference decreases for
all three aldehydes but the effect is much stronger for formalde-
hyde than for acrolein or acetaldehyde.
119
Acetaldehyde (Irwin)
Acetaldehyde (Izak)
Formaldehy de (Irwin)
Formaldehy de (Yamazaki)
20 25 30
9.2. Toxicant/tar ratios
Commercial cigarettes are usually designed to yield a given
amount of tar (NFDPM) under standard smoking conditions, so it is
of interest to compare the ratios of the toxicant to tar. These ratios
would indicate changes in the balance of the smoke chemistry
which could be relevant to explaining differences, if any, in bio-
logical activity, which are usually expressed as specific activities e.g.
as activity per unit weight of tar.
Ratios of toxicant to tar from Irwin (1989c) were calculated and
plotted against circumference. These are shown in Figs. 9 and 10.
Ratios of CO, CO2, NO, HCN, acetaldehyde and dimethylfuran to tar
were not significantly correlated with circumference, while ratios
of phenols, catechol, and cadmium to tar decreased with decreasing
circumference (but only significantly for cadmium). In contrast,
ratios of acrolein and formaldehyde to tar increased significantly
with decreasing circumference.
Similarly, for the dataset generated by Dittrich et al. (2014) all
the toxicant/NFDPM ratios for the 7 mg NFDPM products, except for
formaldehyde/NFDPM, either decreased with decreasing circum-
ference or had maxima or minima at 21 mm. Only formaldehyde/
NFDPM showed a monotonic increase as the circumference
decreased.
Irwin (1989c) pointed out that as the cigarette circumference
decreased, the ratio of the circumference to the cross-sectional area
increased, allowing a greater proportion of the tobacco to be in
contact with the incoming air during a puff. Irwin hypothesized
that a larger proportion of oxidation reactions, including formation
of formaldehyde, would be facilitated as the circumference was
systematically decreased.
To test whether more formaldehyde would be produced in a
more oxidizing environment, Irwin (1989c) investigated a standard
circumference (25 mm) cigarette smoked in three atmospheres
containing 17%, 21% and 25% oxygen in nitrogen (v/v). He found
that the yield of tar and nicotine decreased sharply as the level of
oxygen in the atmosphere increased, due to much faster burning of
the cigarette and a reduced puff count. The ratio of formaldehyde
yield to tar yield increased systematically as the level of oxygen
increased, supporting his hypothesis that MS formaldehyde yields
120 K. McAdam et al. / Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 82 (2016) 111e126

Fig. 8. Aldehyde yields per unit weight of tobacco burnt vs circumference. Yields are normalised to those at 29 mm circumference. Data from Irwin, 1989c.

are related to the amount of oxidation occurring. Irwin's (1989c)
results are consistent with pyrolysis results of Torikai et al.
(2003), who demonstrated that the addition of oxygen (or oxi-
dizers) to tobacco significantly increased the pyrolytic formation of
formaldehyde (Baker, 2006).
It could also be speculated that the finding of lower concen-
trations of condensate free radicals at lower circumferences
(Matkin, 1988) might also be related to increased oxidation.
Although, as described above, in some studies MS formaldehyde
levels have been shown to be higher in smoke from slim format
cigarettes, the toxicological and health implications of this are
unclear. Although formaldehyde is a known carcinogen, it has not
yet been demonstrated that, following smoking, it reaches suffi-
cient levels in the body to have pathological effects. There are very
few data that demonstrate levels of formaldehyde in the blood of
smokers. While data published by Wang et al. (2009) demonstrated
measurable levels of formaldehyde adducted to DNA in the white
blood cells of smokers and that these were significantly higher than
those seen in non-smokers, in both cohorts the actual levels were in
the low femtomolar range. It is difficult to determine whether such
low concentrations could have carcinogenic effects and further,
without knowledge of the smoking intensity (e.g. number of ciga-
rettes smoked per day) in the smoker group it is also difficult to
gauge the significance of this finding. It is also important to note
that increased levels of the related cigarette smoke constituent
acetaldehyde have not been detected in the blood of smokers
(McLaughlin et al., 1990). There are differing reports about the ef-
ficiency of aldehyde uptake by smokers. Seeman et al. (2002) re-
ported that acetaldehyde was not retained in the lungs and was in
fact mostly exhaled, whereas St. Charles et al. (2013) reported
almost quantitative retention of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde
during puffing. Seeman et al. also suggested that inhaled aldehydes

Fig. 9. Ratios of CO, CO2, HCN, phenols and Cd to NFDPM vs circumference. Data from Irwin, 1988a & 1989c.
 K. McAdam et al. / Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 82 (2016) 111e126
Fig. 10. Ratios of aldehydes, dimethylfuran and catechol to NFDPM vs circumference. Data from Irwin, 1988a & 1989c.
would be quickly metabolised by aldehyde dehydrogenases in the
cells of the lungs (Seeman et al., 2002). Potentially, similar effects
could explain the extremely low levels of formaldehyde seen in the
blood of smokers. Further studies are required therefore to deter-
mine the actual exposure of smokers of both regular format and
slim cigarettes to formaldehyde in order to be able to determine
any pathological consequences of such exposure.
9.3. Toxicant yields from commercial super slim cigarettes
As has been stressed previously in this review, when deter-
mining the effect of circumference on smoke composition it is
important to ensure that other cigarette parameters are kept con-
stant. This is unlikely for commercial cigarettes which may have
many different specifications in addition to circumference. One
approach to avoid this problem is to generate an “average” smoke
composition per unit weight of tar from a large number of different
products, and compare the test product with this average. This is
the essence of the “benchmark” approach used by Health Canada to
estimate the yields of 31 toxicants from Canadian products based
on their tar deliveries (Health Canada, 2000). The Canadian
benchmark is generated from the toxicant yields of a minimum of
28 brands obtained under both ISO and HCI smoking conditions. Siu
et al. (2012) compared the toxicant/tar ratios generated from the
2010 Canadian benchmark with ratios measured for six super slim
(17 mm circumference) brands (Health Canada, 2014). Since the
other benchmark Canadian cigarettes have circumferences of
24.5 ± 1.0 mm this comparison was expected to show the effect of
reduced circumference on toxicant/tar ratios. Four of the six super
slim brands had flue-cured blends and two had US style blends.
Two of the flue-cured blends had charcoal filters and the other
cigarettes had standard cellulose acetate filters. Under ISO smoking
conditions the toxicant/tar ratios for all six super slim products
were either significantly lower than the benchmark, including
acetaldehyde (4/6 brands), butyraldehyde (4/6 brands) and pro-
pionaldehyde (4/6 brands), or were not significantly different from
the benchmark, including formaldehyde (6/6 brands). Under HCI
smoking the super slim brands had significantly greater yields of
ammonia (6/6), nicotine (4/6) and formaldehyde (4/6). In addition
the two US blended products had higher yields of the tobacco
121
specific nitrosamines (NNN, NAT and NAB) and 4-aminobiphenyl
and 2-aminonaphthalene. All the other toxicants were either
significantly lower than, or not significantly different to, the bench
mark. Toxicant yields from one of the super slim brands were also
compared to those from a single market brand with the same
length, filter type and blend type but with a circumference of
25 mm. In contrast to the bench mark comparison, the super slim
cigarette gave higher yields of formaldehyde, pyridine, acetamide
and phenol per unit tar than the 25 mm circumference cigarette
under ISO smoking conditions, but equal or lower toxicant ratios for
all toxicants under HCI smoking conditions.
10. SS smoke chemistry
SS yields of tar, nicotine, CO and CO2 decrease with decreasing
circumference (Perfetti et al., 1983; Chao, 1985; Case et al., 1987;
Izac, 1993). These reductions are strongly correlated with the
weights of the tobacco in the cigarette rod (Warren, 1987), which, at
constant packing density, are also proportional to the square of the
circumference. The data of Perfetti et al. (1983) from cigarettes with
circumferences of 21.5e24.7 mm, and Chao (1985) from cigarettes
with circumferences of 13e22 mm show strong linear correlations
between the square of the circumference and SS tar and SS nicotine.
Table 1 shows the relationship between the smoke yields of tar,
nicotine CO and CO2 in MS smoke (MS) and SS for non-filtered
cigarettes of constant packing density across a range of circumfer-
ences using data from Perfetti et al. (1983). All MS and SS yields
decrease with decreasing circumference, but the ratios of SS/MS
yields decrease only very slightly with decreasing cigarette
circumference.
There have been several studies of smoke toxicants in SS. Izac
(1993) reported TSNA yields per unit weight of tobacco for ciga-
rettes with circumferences in the range 17e27 mm. For NAT and
NNN, SS yields per g tobacco were independent of circumference.
For NNK, yields per g tobacco peaked at 24 mm circumference and
were lower at other circumferences.
Parrish et al. (1989) measured SS yields of benzene, toluene and
the volatile aldehydes for two sets of cigarettes made at 17, 20 and
24.8 mm circumference. One set was made with conventional
cigarette paper and the other with a low SS paper containing
122 K. McAdam et al. / Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 82 (2016) 111e126

Table 1 and the SS yields of 44 smoke toxicants (those mandated to be

Yields and ratios of sidestream (SS) and mainstream (MS) tar, nicotine, CO and CO2 reported to Health Canada) were measured. The SS yields of all the
for non-filtered cigarettes with constant packing density. Data from Perfetti et al.,
1983.
toxicants, except for formaldehyde, decreased with decreasing
circumference. Formaldehyde yields increased as circumference
Analyte Circumference (mm) decreased from 24.6 to 21 mm before decreasing to their lowest
21.5 22.8 23.7 24.7 level at 17 mm circumference.
MS
Tar (mg/cig) 24.1 25.7 26.2 28.3
11. Biological activity
Nicotine (mg/cig) 1.53 1.66 1.78 1.85
CO (mg/cig) 13.5 15.4 15.3 16.1
CO2 (mg/cig) 36.2 38.5 38.7 40.8 Whole smoke and/or condensate from cigarettes with different
Puff Number 7.5 7.7 8.0 8.3 circumferences have been subjected to a number of different tests
SS for bioactivity. These have included in vitro mutagenic and clasto-
Tar (mg/cig) 18.8 20.4 22.5 25.4
Nicotine (mg/cig) 2.96 3.37 3.78 4.33
genic testing of the condensate (Izac, 1993; Irwin, 1989c; Massey
CO (mg/cig) 36.9 38.5 44 47.5 and Barnes, 1987; Massey and Godden, 1987; Massey, 1989; 1991;
CO2 (mg/cig) 309 337 389 420 Mladjenovic et al., 2013; Coggins et al., 2013), testing for acute
SS/MS ratios toxicity of whole smoke and condensate using micro-organisms
Tar 0.78 0.79 0.86 0.90
(Lugton, 1971; Coggins et al., 2013), in vivo tumorigenicity testing
Nicotine 1.93 2.03 2.12 2.34
CO 1.02 1.00 1.14 1.16 of condensate using mouse skin painting (Lugton, 1971; Clapp et al.,
CO2 22.9 21.9 25.5 26.1 1977; Dontenwill et al., 1977; Smith, 1990) and whole smoke using
All cigarettes had a packing density of 0.287 g cm3. MS yields were measured under
inhalation toxicology (Smith, 1990).
standard FTC conditions. SS yields were measured by the so-called “fishtail chim-
ney” method (Coresta, 2011).
11.1. In vitro mutagenicity and clastogenicity tests

There have been several reports of the effect of circumference

magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)2) filler. Benzene and toluene SS
yields decreased linearly with the weight of tobacco in the cigarette
(and with the square of circumference). However formaldehyde,
acetaldehyde, acrolein and butyraldehyde all gave distinctly non-
linear correlations with tobacco weight. Plots of acetaldehyde,
formaldehyde and acrolein are shown in Fig. 11. The reason for the
non-linearity is unknown, but Irwin's hypothesis (Irwin, 1989c) of
increased smoke oxidation at low circumferences would be
consistent with these results.
Dittrich et al. (2014) described a series of prototype cigarettes
which demonstrated a number of different approaches for reducing
toxicant yields. Included in this study were three 1 mg ISO NFDPM
yield cigarettes manufactured at 17, 21 and 24.6 mm circumfer-
ences but with the same tobacco blend, packing density, paper type
and filter tow. These were smoked under ISO smoking conditions
change on the Ames test which determines the mutagenicity of
condensate to different strains of Salmonella Typhimurium bacteria
(Massey and Godden, 1987; Irwin, 1989c; Massey, 1989; Izac, 1993;
Mladjenovic et al., 2013; Coggins et al., 2013). The bacteria are
exposed to various dilutions of smoke condensate, which is
collected either on a Cambridge filter or in an impaction trap.
The activity of the condensate is usually reported on a per unit
weight of condensate basis and is then referred to as “specific ac-
tivity”. However, in some cases, activities are reported on a unit tar
(NFDPM) basis. Both of these normalisation approaches decouple
the impact of different quantities of smoke in the assays, allowing
any influence of circumference to be clearly observed.
Studies have consistently shown reductions in specific activity
with reducing circumference using both TA98 and TA100 strains of
bacteria (Izac, 1993; Coggins et al., 2013). For example, Massey

4000 SS Formaldehy de Control

SS Formaldehy de Test
SS A cetaldehy de Control
SS A cetaldehy de Test
SS A crolein Control
Aldehyde yields (ug/cigarette)

3000 SS A crolein Test

2000

1000

0
400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
Tobacco Weight (mg/cigarette)

Fig. 11. SS yields of formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and acrolein vs tobacco weight. Data from Parrish et al., 1989. “Control” cigarettes have conventional paper. “Test” cigarettes have
low-SS Mg(OH)2 papers.
 K. McAdam et al. / Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 82 (2016) 111e126
(1989) determined specific Ames activities (strain TA98 with S9
activation) of condensates from flue-cured and US-style cigarettes
with circumferences of 13, 17, 20, 22, 24.75 and 29 mm. Specific
mutagenic activities fell by 49% and 39% for the flue-cured and US
blended series, respectively, when the circumference was reduced
from 29 to 13 mm. Part of the reason for the reduced activity may
be due to the higher flow rates through the cigarette, which result
in less effective filtration of the more volatile, and less mutagenic,
smoke components by the tobacco rod and filter (Robinson, 1987).
Massey (1989) tested the magnitude of this effect by modifying the
puff volume drawn through the cigarettes in order to produce equal
linear air flow at all circumferences. This resulted in the cigarettes
with circumferences of 22e29 mm having specific activities that
were not significantly different. However the lowest circumference
cigarettes (13 and 17 mm) still had significantly lower specific ac-
tivities than those with higher circumference. Massey speculated
that at very low circumferences the higher ratios of circumference
to cross-sectional area may provide more oxygen during puffing as
suggested by Irwin (1989c) to explain the relatively higher form-
aldehyde/tar ratios for lower circumference cigarettes. This is
supported by findings that increased oxygen in the combustion
zone results in condensate with reduced Ames activity (Massey,
1989).
Mladjenovic et al. (2013) compared the Ames mutagenicities of
11 Canadian cigarette brands using Salmonella strains TA98,
YG1041 and YG5185. The cigarettes had different blends, filter
types, ventilation levels and circumferences. Five brands were su-
per slim with circumferences of 16.8 ± 0.2 mm and 6 brands had
circumferences of 24.5 ± 1.0 mm. After taking into account the
differences in blend types it was concluded that the super slim
brands had significant lower mutagenicities than the 24.5 mm
products.
The influence of circumference on the clastogenic activity of
smoke condensate (i.e. the number of chromosome aberrations per
mg of condensate) in human lymphocytes has also been investi-
gated (Massey, 1991). The specific activity of a flue-cured 13-mm
cigarette condensate was less than that of a 24.75 mm cigarette
condensate of the same blend composition.
11.2. In vitro cytotoxicity tests
The effect of circumference on the acute toxicity of smoke was
investigated using a number of short term tests involving micro-
organisms applied to smoke from cigarettes with circumferences of
19, 22, 25, 28 and 31 mm (Lugton, 1971). The paramecium hanging-
drop test measures vapour phase toxicity and involves passing
successive puffs of smoke past a water droplet containing the ciliate
(BAT, 1969a). The number of puffs required to kill the ciliate is
recorded. In this test, no significant difference was observed be-
tween cigarettes of different circumference implying no difference
between toxicities of each puff.
The Tetrahymena solution test measures the cytotoxicity per
cigarette of various dilutions of whole smoke in aqueous solutions
of tetrahymena vorax (BAT, 1969b). The lowest circumference cig-
arettes had smoke with lower cytotoxicities in line with the TPM
yields. The Tetrahymena particulate-phase test measures the spe-
cific cytotoxicity of the tar (BAT, 1970). It involves treating Petri
dishes containing Tetrahymena vorax with different concentrations
of tar in acetone. The compounds responsible for this cytotoxicity
are thought to be chemically different from those that kill the
microorganism when whole smoke is employed. Tar from the
lowest circumference cigarettes showed a significantly lower spe-
cific activity than from the highest circumference cigarettes.
The chorioallantoic membrane test was used to examine the
toxicity of smoke condensate by measuring the thickness of the
123
chorioallantoic membrane of fertile hens’ eggs after smoke
condensate had been applied for 4 days (BAT, 1969c). There were no
significant differences in specific activity between smoke conden-
sates from different circumference cigarettes. However, on a per
cigarette basis, the smoke condensate from cigarettes of smaller
circumference were significantly less active than from the larger
products, which reflects the lower weights of condensate from
these cigarettes.
More recently, Coggins (Coggins et al., 2013) reported the results
of the neutral red uptake assay on the condensates from cigarettes
with circumferences of 17, 21 and 23.9 mm. Relative to the 27.1 mm
circumference (control) cigarette, the specific toxicities (1/EC50) on
a per weight of smoke condensate basis decreased from 1.22 for the
23.9 mm cigarette, to 0.99 for the 21 mm cigarette and to 0.83 for
the 17 mm cigarette.
In general, data from Ames tests and from other in vitro toxi-
cological tests indicate that as the circumference of a cigarette
decreases (yielding lower cigarette smoke condensate deliveries),
the toxicological activity of the smoke decreases above and beyond
the amount of smoke generated by these cigarettes.
11.3. In vivo tests
A few studies have assessed the effect of circumference on the
tumorigenicity of smoke using mouse skin painting (Clapp et al.,
1977; Dontenwill et al., 1977; Smith, 1990).
In a study by the Tobacco Research Council (Smith, 1990), a
decrease in tumour-forming specific activity was found for smoke
condensate from cigarettes of 19 mm circumference as compared
with condensate from products of 25.3 mm and 31.5 mm circum-
ference. There was no difference between the condensates from the
25.3 and 31.5 mm cigarettes.
Clapp et al. (1977) found that the specific activities of conden-
sates from 23 mm cigarettes were less active than those from
25.4 mm cigarettes. This was found for both 100% tobacco ciga-
rettes and for blends with tobacco substitute (NSM).
Dontenwill et al. (1977) compared tumorigenicities of conden-
sates from cigarettes with circumferences of 21.7 mm, 25.5 mm and
28.9 mm. Condensate from the 21.7 mm cigarette was significantly
lower in specific activity than that from the 25.5 mm cigarette.
Condensates from the 25.5 mm and 28.9 mm product were not
significantly different.
11.4. Inhalation toxicity
Smith (1991) reported inhalation toxicological testing of ciga-
rette smoke from cigarettes with circumferences of 13, 17, 20, 25
and 29 mm circumference. The 6-week inhalation study on rats
involved exposing the animals to 7.9e8.6 mg/L of TPM on a twice
daily basis. There were no consistent differences in response be-
tween the treatment groups.
Overall, it seems clear that as cigarette circumference decreases,
the specific tumorigenic activity of cigarette smoke also decreases.
However the specific toxicity of the smoke during inhalation is not
affected by circumference.
12. Mouth level exposure studies
As described above, many studies have documented lower MS
smoke yields of a wide range of chemicals in cigarette smoke from
slim format cigarettes. However, this does not necessarily mean
that smoking these cigarettes reduces either the human exposure
to these chemicals or modifies the risks associated with smoking.
Although a person's mouth level exposure to smoke can be deter-
mined from puff duplicators, analysis of discarded butts after
124 K. McAdam et al. / Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 82 (2016) 111e126

Table 2
Mouth level exposures (MLE) to tar and nicotine for cigarettes with 24.6 and 17 mm circumferences. Data from Ashley et al., 2011 & 2014.

Study ISO NFDPM (mg/cig) Circumference (mm) MLE to tar (mg/cig) MLE to nicotine (mg/cig)

Romania 1 17.0 7.1 ± 2.1c 0.70 ± 0.19c

4 24.6 11.9 ± 2.9b 1.04 ± 0.28b
4 17.0 10.5 ± 2.2b 1.00 ± 0.20b
7 24.6 16.3 ± 4.2a 1.40 ± 0.33a
7 17.0 15.2 ± 3.7a 1.36 ± 0.33a
Russia 1 24.6 8.9 ± 3.4d 0.98 ± 0.35cd
1 17.0 9.4 ± 3.2d 0.86 ± 0.28d
4 24.6 16.7 ± 5.1b 1.53 ± 0.48a
4 17.0 13.5 ± 4.2c 1.18 ± 0.35bc
7 24.6 19.5 ± 6.2a 1.43 ± 0.50a
7 17.0 16.8 ± 4.9b 1.33 ± 0.38ab

All cigarettes were 83±4 mm in length and had carbon filters.

a,b,c,d
Values within a study with same alphabetical character are not significantly different (P < 0.05).

human smoking is a much less invasive and more rapid technique.
A more recent improvement in butt analysis is the part filter
analysis method in which only the mouth-end portion of the filter,
downstream of the ventilation holes, is used for analysis (BAT,
2016). In this portion, the filtration efficiency is relatively con-
stant irrespective of typical puff flow rates of humans and also
minimizes butt length effects (e.g. nicotine condensation) on
filtration efficiency. Therefore, the estimations of human smoking
cigarette yields are better correlated to human smoking conditions
than previous whole-filter methods (St. Charles et al., 2009).
In the first of two studies of slim cigarettes performed using this
technique, Ashley et al. (2011) examined mouth level exposure
(MLE) to tar and nicotine in cohorts of Romanian smokers of king
size cigarettes with circumferences of either 25 mm (conventional)
or 17 mm (super slims). No significant differences were found be-
tween the MLE to ‘tar’ and nicotine in smokers of the conventional
and slim cigarette over a range of different ISO tar yields (1 mg,
4 mg and 7 mg ISO tar per cigarette). This suggested that cigarette
circumference had no influence on smokers' exposure to tar or
nicotine. In a second and similar follow-up study performed in
Russia (Ashley et al., 2014), MLE to tar was found to be similar for
smokers of 1 mg ISO tar yield products, but lower for smokers of
4 mg and 7 mg super slim cigarettes, compared to conventional
format cigarettes. MLE to nicotine was lower in smokers of 4 mg
super slim compared to conventional cigarettes, but not for other
tar bands. The results for both the Romanian and Russian studies
are summarised in Table 2. These studies demonstrate that
smokers' exposure to tar and nicotine are either similar or lower in
smokers of slim format cigarettes when compared to those seen in
smokers of conventional cigarettes. It must be noted however that
this does not imply any difference in disease risk associated with
smoking different styles of cigarette and further studies would be
required in order to evaluate such differences in risk, if any.
cases, increases relative to tar as circumference decreases. In terms
of bioactivity, in vitro specific mutagenic, cytotoxic and tumorigenic
activities decrease as circumference decreases in the range 29 to
13 mm. The specific toxicities of the smoke to the rodent respira-
tory tract are not sensitive to circumference changes. The increases
in formaldehyde relative to tar and the reduction in some of the
specific bioactivities of the condensate with decreasing circumfer-
ence appear to be related at least in part to a more oxidizing
burning zone. Recent studies on MLE to smoke amongst smokers of
slim and conventional circumference products found that exposure
to tar and nicotine was either lower in smokers of 17 mm circum-
ference cigarettes compared with smokers of conventional 25 mm
circumference cigarettes or not significantly different. It must be
emphasized that although reduced circumference is a cigarette
design feature that can be used in conjunction with other param-
eters to help reduce certain MS and SS smoke toxicants and some
measures of bioactivity, there is no evidence that slim cigarettes per
se are any less harmful than cigarettes with higher circumferences.
Declaration of interest
K. McAdam, A. Eldridge, I.M. Fearon, C. Liu, A. Manson, J. Murphy
and C. Proctor are employees of British American Tobacco (In-
vestments) Ltd. A. Porter is a paid consultant for British American
Tobacco (Investments) Ltd. Preparation of the manuscript was
funded by British American Tobacco (Investments) Ltd.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data related to this article can be found at http://
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yrtph.2016.09.010.
Transparency document

13. Conclusions Transparency document related to this article can be found

This review of academic and industry-based studies has shown
that decreasing cigarette circumference influences the physical
properties of the cigarette and, as a result, the nature of the smoke
produced. Tobacco weight, mass burn rate, puff count and static
burn time decrease with decreasing circumference, while draw
resistance and the length of rod burned during puff and smoulder
periods increase. In addition, the average smoke particle size de-
creases with cigarette circumference due to the faster flow rate
along the cigarette and shorter time available for particle coagu-
lation. Overall, deliveries of individual MS and SS smoke constitu-
ents, including free radical species, tend to decrease as
circumference is reduced, except for formaldehyde, which, in some
online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yrtph.2016.09.010.
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