Dataset Information

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in US and Swedish smokeless tobacco products.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Debate about the health implications of using smokeless tobacco products (STPs) has prompted considerable interest in characterising their levels of toxic and carcinogenic components. In the present study seventy smokeless tobacco products from the US and Sweden, categorized as chewing tobacco, dry and moist snuff, hard and soft pellets, plug, and loose and portion snus, were analysed for twenty one polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The tested brands represented 80-90% of the 2008 market share for the major STP categories in these two countries. RESULTS: There were significant differences in the total and individual PAH concentrations in the different styles of product. Substantially higher levels of total PAHs (10-60 fold) were found in moist and dry snuff and soft pellets than in the other smokeless tobacco styles. The individual PAH concentrations followed the same patterns as total PAHs except for naphthalene, for which the highest concentrations were found in snus and moist snuff. Good correlations were obtained between benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) and all the other PAHs except naphthalene, 1-methylnaphthalene and 2-methylnaphthalene, providing evidence for the first time that it can be used as a good marker for PAHs in STPs. Results were generally in good agreement with two previous studies of PAHs in STPs, except for naphthalene for which significantly lower concentrations were found than previously reported. Analysis of the ratios of different PAHs confirmed that the use of fire-cured tobaccos in the snuffs and soft pellet were the major source of PAHs in these product styles, and provided, for the first time, some indications as to the source of PAHs in the other STP styles, including petrogenic and other combustion sources. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the presence of PAHs in STPs, and identifies substantial differences between the levels in different STP categories. Since previous studies of naphthalene concentrations in STPs differed so markedly from those found in this study, it is recommended that further work on PAH determination is undertaken to investigate the source of this discrepancy.

SUBMITTER: McAdam KG

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3874832 | biostudies-other | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in US and Swedish smokeless tobacco products.

McAdam Kevin G KG Faizi Arif A Kimpton Harriet H Porter Andrew A Rodu Brad B

Chemistry Central journal 20130908 1

<h4>Background</h4>Debate about the health implications of using smokeless tobacco products (STPs) has prompted considerable interest in characterising their levels of toxic and carcinogenic components. In the present study seventy smokeless tobacco products from the US and Sweden, categorized as chewing tobacco, dry and moist snuff, hard and soft pellets, plug, and loose and portion snus, were analysed for twenty one polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The tested brands represented 80-90% ...[more]

PMID: 24011230

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Project description:The major components of 70 brands of smokeless tobacco products (STPs) from Sweden and the US were determined to provide greater understanding of the general chemical composition of these products. Various styles of STPs were examined: loose and portion snus from Sweden, and chewing tobacco, dry snuff, moist snuff, hard pellet, soft pellet and plug from the US. The components analysed were major STP components such as water, nicotine, sugars, humectants, sodium ions, chloride ions and ash. The relative quantities of the components varied significantly between different styles of STP. The major component of moist snuff and Swedish loose snus is water. With Swedish portion snus water and pouch material comprise more than half of the product mass; with chewing tobaccos water and sugars comprise around 60% of the products. With these STPs, tobacco was a minor component (30-35%) of the product mass. By way of contrast, tobacco comprised the majority (around 70-90%) of the product mass with dry snuff, hard pellet and soft pellet products. Additives such as sugars, propylene glycol, glycerol, and sodium chloride comprised up to around 12% of the STPs, except for plug and chewing tobaccos where sugars comprised 15-30% by mass of the STP on average. Significant disagreements were found amongst alternative methods of determining water/moisture content for STPs. In particular the oven method, commonly used to determine moisture in tobacco, gave significantly higher values than the Karl Fischer water method when propylene glycol was present. Smaller but similar differences were found using the Near-Infrared method. Choice of measurement technique has important consequences for accuracy of toxicant levels when reporting on a dry-weight basis, a commonly used parameter in smokeless tobacco research and emerging regulatory standards. Conversion to a DWB was also found to produce a preferential bias between and within different STP categories in favour of drier products. These data provide greater understanding of differences in the compositions of contemporary smokeless tobacco products, and demonstrate challenges associated with conversion of actual product contents to dry weight basis values.

Project description:BackgroundWe are interested in comparing the levels of harmful or potentially harmful constituents in Swedish and American smokeless tobacco products (STPs). We report here the concentrations of the IARC Group 2 A (probable human) carcinogen ethyl carbamate (EC) in seventy commercial STPs from the US and Sweden, representing 80-90% of the market share of the major STP categories in these countries. We also examine the effects of various additives, processing and storage conditions on EC concentrations in experimental snus samples.ResultsEC was determined from aqueous extracts of the STPs using ultra performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC/MS/MS). EC was undetectable (< 20 ng/g wet weight basis WWB) in 60% of the commercial STPs, including all the chewing tobacco (CT), dry snuff (DS), hard pellet (HP), soft pellet (SP), and plug products. Measurable levels of EC were found in 11/16 (69%) of the moist snuff (MS) samples (average 154 ng/g in those samples containing EC) and 19/32 (59%) of the Swedish snus samples (average 35 ng/g). For the experimental snus samples, EC was only observed in ethanol treated samples. EC concentrations increased significantly with ethanol concentrations (0-4%) and with storage time (up to 24 weeks) and temperature (8 °C vs 20 °C). EC concentrations were lower at lower pHs but were unaffected by adding nitrogenous precursors identified from food studies (citrulline and urea), increasing water content or by pasteurisation. Added EC was stable in the STP matrix, but evaporative losses were significant when samples were stored for several weeks in open containers at 8 °C.ConclusionsEC was found in measurable amounts only in some moist STPs i.e. pasteurised Swedish snus and unpasteurised US MS; it is not a ubiquitous contaminant of STPs. The presence of ethanol contributed significantly to the presence of EC in experimental snus samples, more significantly at higher pH levels. Sample age also was a key determinant of EC content. In contrast, pasteurisation and fermentation do not appear to directly influence EC levels. Using published consumption rates and mouth level exposures, on average STP consumers are exposed to lower EC levels from STP use than from food consumption.

Dataset Information

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in US and Swedish smokeless tobacco products.

Publications

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in US and Swedish smokeless tobacco products.

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