A QUANTITATIVE METHOD FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF CIGARETTE SMOKE IRRITATION

¹ Department of Pharmacology, Medical College of Virginia, Richmond 19, Virginia

A quantitative method for evaluating the edema producing properties of the irritants in cigarette smoke has been described. Application of the method has demonstrated the following:

1. Tightness of packing of the tobacco within a cigarette can significantly alter the irritant properties of its smoke. The tighter the packing the less irritating is the smoke.

2. The irritant properties of cigarette smoke vary inversely with the moisture content of the tobacco smoked.

3. Cigarettes of the same brand may be of sufficiently uniform composition as to constituents so that no significant difference in irritant properties of their smoke can be detected.

4. The smoke from different brands of cigarettes may differ significantly in irritant properties.

5. The hygroscopic agents, glycerine and diethylene glycol, do not per se significantly alter the irritant properties of cigarette smoke.

6. The irritant properties of cigarette smoke directly applied are markedly greater than those of comparable cigarette smoke solutions.

While the described method has been here directed toward measurement of cigarette smoke irritation, we have found that by modifying the mode of administration of the irritant to suit the need, the method is equally applicable to the measurement of the edema-producing properties of gases, vapors, and liquids in general.