Open AccessIrritants in cigarette smoke plumes.
Author(s) -
Howard E. Ayer,
D W Yeager
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.72.11.1283
Subject(s) - irritation , smoke , formaldehyde , tar (computing) , acrolein , respiratory tract , cigarette smoke , medicine , eye irritation , environmental health , environmental chemistry , respiratory system , chemistry , immunology , organic chemistry , computer science , programming language , catalysis
Concentrations of the irritants formaldehyde and acrolein in side stream cigarette smoke plumes are up to three orders of magnitude above occupational limits, readily accounting for eye and nasal irritation. "Low-tar" cigarettes appear at least as irritating as other cigarettes. More than half the irritant is associated with the particulate phase of the smoke, permitting deposition throughout the entire respiratory tract and raising the issue of whether formaldehyde in smoke is associated with bronchial cancer.