Tar Expert Statement
Prepared by Ron Borland
Director
VicHealth Centre for Tobacco Control
for National Tobacco Campaign
May 3, 2000
In Australia estimates of tar intake have been made by using published tar ratings (based on the FTC/ISO method) using reported consumption weighted by market share of brands of different rated strengths. The last published figure was for 1995 (Hill, White, & Scollo 1998). It reported that males took in on average 8.2mg of tar per cigarette and females took in 7.2mg. They reported that males smoked on average 19.7 cigarettes per day and females smoked 18.1 per day. This translates into daily tar consumption of 162mg of tar for men and 130mg for women. These estimates are based on reported usual consumption computed from number of packs reported smoked per week. However, there is evidence that smokers systematically underestimate consumption. Using the prevalence estimates in the Hill et al (1991, Hill & White, 1995) series and reported weight of cigarettes consumed and average cigarette weight from Winstanley et al (1995), the estimates of daily consumption in the Hill series are between 25 – 30% less than those computed from customs data.
Recent research from the USA (Djordjevic, et al, 2000) has found that in the USA smokers get about 2.5 times the amount of tar as is indicated from the FTC method. They found slightly greater increases over rated figures for "light" as compared with standard cigarettes, but did not test cigarettes that would be classed in Australia as "Ultra Light". It is reasonable to suppose that the underestimation here is even greater.
If we take the average of the male and female consumption estimates from Hill, White & Scollo (146mg) and multiply it by 2.5 we get daily consumption of 365mg per day. Multiplied by 365 to get yearly consumption given a little over 133g. That figure may underestimate consumption by around 25%, suggesting intakes of 160-170g per year.
While there remains considerable uncertainty in their estimates, they do suggest that an estimate of around 150g is justifiable and possibly conservative.
I have been unable to track down a reference for the density of tar, so as to translate the weight into volume. However, I understand that at least some of the components are less dense than water, suggesting 150mg of tar would take up over 150ml of space. If this is true then a working estimate of 150mls that is assuming a specific gravity of 1.0 would be conservative and defensible.
References:
Djordjevic MV, Stellman, SD, Zang E. Doses of Nicotine and lung carcinogens delivered to cigarette smokers. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2000; 92:2 106-111.
Hill DJ, White VM. Australian adult smoking prevalence in 1992. Australian Journal of Public Health 1995; 19:3 305-308.
Hill DJ, White VM, Gray NJ. Australian patterns of tobacco smoking in 1989. The Medical Journal of Australia 1991; 154: 797-801.
Hill DJ, White VM, Scollo MM. Smoking behaviours of Australian adults in 1995: trends and concerns. Medical Journal of Australia 1998; 168: 209-213.
Winstanley MH, Woodward SD, Walker, N. Tobacco in Australia: Facts and Issues. Second edition published by the Victorian Smoking and Health Program, Australia (Quit Victoria), 1995.
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