The effect of smoking intensity on cigar smoke emissions was assessed under a range of puff frequencies and puff volumes. In order to potentially reduce emissions variability and to identify patterns as accurately as possible, cigar weights and diameters were measured, and outliers were excluded prior to smoking. Portions corresponding to 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of the cigar, measured down to the butt length, were smoked under several smoking conditions, to assess nicotine, CO and water yields. The remaining cigar butts were analysed for total alkaloids, nicotine, and moisture. Results showed accumulation effects during the burning process having a significant impact on smoke emission levels. Condensation and evaporation occur and lead to smoke emissions dependent on smoking intensity. Differences were observed for CO on one side as a gas phase compound and nicotine on the other side as a particulate phase compound. For a given intensity, while CO emission increases linearly as the cigar burns, nicotine and water emissions exhibited an exponential increase. Our investigations showed that a complex phenomena occurs during the course of cigar smoking which makes emission data: difficult to interpret, is potentially misleading to the consumer, and inappropriate for exposure assessment. The results indicate that, tobacco content and physical parameters may well be the most robust basis for product characterisation and comparison rather than smoke emission.
Keywords: Cigar; Cigar burning; Cigar emissions; Cigar smoking; Product comparison.
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