Cadmium and lead contents of cigarettes produced in various areas of the world.

Cigarette packs, 331 in total, were purchased in 20 areas including nine in Asia between 1982 and 1984, and analyzed for cadmium and lead by flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometry after wet digestion with nitric, sulfuric and perchloric acids. The arithmetic mean (geometric mean in parentheses) for Cd was 1.15 (1.06) micrograms/cigarette or 1.45 (1.31) micrograms/g, and the values for Pb were 1.70 (1.31) micrograms/cigarette or 1.76 (1.67) micrograms/g. The Cd content of cigarettes was distributed over a wide range from 0.29 to 3.38 micrograms/g, and the range was even wider for Pb, 0.46 to 43.66 micrograms/g. The mean values varied markedly depending on the area of production. It was not possible, however, to obtain any evidence to suggest that the differences in Cd and Pb contents are related to the area of production or the extent of industrial development of the area.