THE DISTRIBUTION OF TOTAL PARTICULATE MATTER (TPM) AND NICOTINE BETWEEN MAINSTREAM AND SIDESTREAM SMOKE IN BIDIS AND CIGARETTES

The mainstream (MS) and sidestream (SS) smoke of three types of popula r Indian cigarettes, a brand of low tar Indian cigarettes, a brand of US cigarettes and two brands of popular Indian bidis were analysed for carcinogenic total particulate matter (TPM) and nicotine levels emplo ying standard smoking conditions and/or modified smoking standards. Th e analysis clearly demonstrated relatively higher levels of TPM and ni cotine in MS of three types of popular Indian cigarettes when compared with a brand of low tar Indian cigarettes or a brand of US cigarettes or reported values for MS of western cigarettes. This was also reflec ted in MS/SS ratios of TPM and nicotine as TPM and nicotine levels in SS of Indian and US cigarettes were similar, when tested employing sta ndard smoking conditions. Comparative analysis of Indian bidis/cigaret tes and a brand of US cigarettes employing modified smoking standard ( i.e. 2 puffs/min instead of 1 puff/min) revealed significantly lower v alues of TPM and nicotine in SS of Indian bids when compared with corr esponding values in Indian/US cigarettes. This shows that contribution of TPM and nicotine in SS from a single bidi to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is very much less than that of a-single cigarette, and co ntribution of SS from Indian and US cigarettes to ETS appear to be sim ilar. Reduced levels of TPM and nicotine in SS of bidis, probably due to lack of added burning agents, result into relatively higher deliver ies of TPM and nicotine in MS as reflected by higher MS/SS values.