Effect of Cigarette Menthol Content on Mainstream Smoke Emissions

The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act empowered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to study “the impact of the use of menthol in cigarettes on the public health, including such use among children, African Americans, Hispanics and other racial and ethnic minorities,” and develop recommendations. Current scientific evidence comparing human exposures between menthol and nonmenthol smokers shows mixed results. This is largely because of the many differences between commercial menthol and nonmenthol cigarettes other than their menthol content. We conducted an innovative study using two types of test cigarettes: a commercial nonmenthol brand that we mentholated at four different levels, and Camel Crush, a commercial cigarette containing a small capsule in the filter that releases menthol solution into the filter when crushed. Cigarettes were machine-smoked at each of the menthol levels investigated, and the total particulate matter (TPM) was collected on a quartz fiber filter pad and ana...