Premier: A new nicotine delivery system - Studies on its environmental and biological impact

Four experiments were conducted to compare the sidestream and mainstream emissions from a novel nicotine delivery system (Premier, Regular brand) with those from cigarettes. Ambient room carbon monoxide (CO) levels produced by the simultaneous burning by a smoking manifold of various numbers of either Premier or a cigarette (Marlboro) were measured and compared. For both Premier and Marlboro, the levels of ambient CO were directly proportional to the numbers simultaneously burned, but the relative amounts of CO production differed greatly between Premier and Marlboro. Burning two, four or eight Marlboro cigarettes produced levels of CO approximately four, six and seven times higher than those produced by the burning of equal numbers, of Premiers (Experiment 1). When three Premiers were smoked by five smokers in a standardised fashion after the ad libitum smoking of their usual brand cigarettes (Experiment 2), the mean CO boost (+6.5ppm) and nicotine plasma level boost (+4.4ng/ml) were comparable to when one Premier was smoked in a standardised fashion by the same five subjects after the ad libitum smoking of only Premier cigarettes (Experiment 3: mean CO=+4.8ppm and nicotine plasma level boost =+4.1ng/ml). For the five smokers, Premier generated plasma nicotine levels predicted by its machine-rated delivery and in accord with levels produced by the standardised smoking of various brands of tobacco cigarettes of varying FTC deliveries (Experiment 4). Premier appears to produce markedly lower levels of sidestream emissions as measured by CO. Subjects smoking Premier in a standardised manner absorb nicotine and CO in amounts proportional to in vitro tests of mainstream emissions.