Analysis of slim cigarettes and their components marketed between 2011 and 2015 in the European Union

Abstract

For an investigation of the design of slim cigarettes 107 different slim cigarette brand variants were bought in the European Union from 2011 to 2015. The cigarettes were analyzed with respect to cigarette geometry, smoke yields, physical cigarette parameters and cigarette paper parameters. Histograms were determined for each parameter to visualize the distribution of cigarette properties and cigarette design parameters. Correlations between the design parameters and smoke yields were determined. The results indicate that the main cigarette design tools are effectively used for slim cigarette design, but to a certain extent the high flow velocity, the low tobacco mass and the high paper area per tobacco mass influence the design choices. Filter technology, including filter ventilation, is used as the main design tool to adjust smoke yields on a large scale, while the cigarette paper parameters serve to fine-tune the cigarette design with respect to smoke yields and other cigarette properties, mainly optical properties such as opacity, whiteness but also ash appearance.