Comparative Analysis of Particulate Content in Cigarette Smoke: Implications for Respiratory Health of Active and Passive Smokers

Abstract

Cigarette smoke is a heterogeneous mixture of gases, uncondensed vapours and liquid particulate matter with millions of particles per cubic centimetre. Cigarette smoking can negatively impact the health of smokers and non-smokers. As such, there is a need to constantly assess the quantity of toxic substances emanating from smoking cigarettes. This study investigated the total amount of particulates to which smokers and non-smokers are exposed and identified the chemical compositions of total particulates in cigarette smoke from some selected cigarette brands obtained from Nagongera town council shops in Uganda. To achieve this, we made use of an apparatus that mimics the smoking process of a human being and a passive smoker by connecting this set to another set-up containing a cigarette to be burnt. Qualitative tests for chemical composition were conducted using conventional tests for organic functional groups. It was found that Sportsman and locally cured tobacco had the highest total particulate content (116 mg and 73 mg) while Supermatch and Safari had the lowest total amount of particulates 45.5 mg and 40.3 mg, respectively. The investigated cigarettes were found to be composed of the following functional groups: aromatics, phenolics, nitrosamines and alkaloids. However, aldehyde and ketonic groups were not identified. The cigarette composition results in cigarette smoke composition either in the mainstream or the side stream causing disease to a respiratory system like lung cancer, emphysema and cancers in the mouth cavity and oesophagus. This study confirmed that the brand of cigarette smoked could determine the quantity of particulate smokers and non-smokers of cigarettes might be exposed to and that functionalities and/or chemical compositions vary amongst Ugandan cigarette brands