Hey smokers,

Am bringing an interesting and unique topic this day!! It’s the Cigarettes Laboratory journey!! So let’s go.

Note: All information mentioned in this post are taken from my experience as a lab technician in cigarettes lab, but as long sources are mandatory, so I listed scientific sources which are compatible with content.

Many people don’t how cigarettes are being tested or what’s the concept or idea behind it, the reason of that is the small numbers of those laboratories among the world and also the market monopoly of analysis techniques that been used.

Now guys, just grab your cigarettes pack and read the side of it; you’ll find info about TAR / Nicotine and CO2 content…. BUT what’s the meaning and why it’s there?

Let’s start:

Check the photo here and you’ll see the critical info about cigarettes that been instructed by WHO

1) CO: the silent killer!! Why? ‘Cause Carbon Monoxide is replacing the oxygen in our hemoglobin, which resulting lower amounts of Oxygen to our organs! So it’s slow kind of Suffocation (asphyxia)!

for more info : h ttp://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Carbon-monoxide-poisoning/Pages/Introduction.aspx

2) Nicotine: is a natural compound that can be found in many plants like tomatoes/eggplants, BUT more especially Tobacco plant! And this is the addictive part of the cigarette. white'>)

for more info: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240820.php

3) Tar: which is like any natural Tar you heard about! In our topic Tar is the residue of burning the cigarette, so it’s the most dangerous ingredient in cigarette in my opinion because I have analyze, seen that thing and smelled it! PLUS it sets there in lung and accumulates with time, so it’s the most visible and proven material of cigarette!.

for more info: http://www.quitnow.gov.au/internet/quitnow/publishing.nsf/Content/smoking-and-tar

AND there’s another dangerous horrible ingredient that has not been listed on cigarette packs, this one is AMMONIA!!! This horrible Ammonia is the Nicotine booster intake per cigarette Puff!

for more info: https://www.verywell.com/boosting-the-impact-of-nicotine-with-ammonia-2824731

*How to analyze?

Ok, the device that you can see in image below is a weird device which manufactured by only two or three companies around the world! The concept is: Replacing a cotton filter at the cigarette filter then use the automated lung to smoke (lower part of the machine) …. After that take the filter and dissolve it a chemical reagent (Depends on method) … and inject it in a device called GC (Gas Chromatograph) …

In GC, we can analyze the amount of Nicotine and CO by indicating their peaks and calculation is another story, anyway the software will calculate… So now we know how we got Nicotine and CO contents.

For TAR, if you notice the amount of TAR is the higher one, and also visible on filter, so the most common method is by weighing the filter before and after, then the difference is tar content!

for more info: I wish I still have some photos to show in details, but unfortunately nothing left! So I’ll show the devices photos and one video that can help...

Video:

http://www.bat-science.com/groupms/sites/BAT_9GVJXS.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO7AXGCZ

Images

GC

Smoking Machine

Another Smoking machine

Tip and trick

You ever noticed the Yellow dots on your cigarette?? This the effect of moisture!! The cigarette taste is usually worse if moisture is more; the funny fact is whenever the moisture goes higher, then the absorption of Nicotine and TAR goes lower ;)

for more info

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268155116_THE_EFFECT_OF_CIGARETTE_MOISTURE_ON_FORMATION_OF_PARTICULATE_PHASE_OF_THE_MAINSTREAM_TOBACCO_SMOKE