Winnall Wendy R, Haynes Ashleigh, Klerx Walther, Bakker-'t Hart Ingrid M E, Versluis Caroline, Leijten Niels M, Brennan Emily, Talhout Reinskje, Wakefield Melanie A
Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer, Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, VIC 3002, Australia.
Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3002, Australia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024 Dec 31;22(1):50. doi: 10.3390/ijerph22010050.
Cigarette brand variant names and characteristics such as the taste and feel of the smoke can mislead consumers into believing some products are less harmful. We assessed the characteristics of three common cigarette variants sold in Australia, "gold", "blue" and "red", to determine which characteristics differed by color, and which affected tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide (TNCO) yields. TNCO yields, physical parameters, expanded tobacco and filter ventilation were measured in cigarette color variants from eight brands. Filter ventilation and expanded tobacco were common across brands and variants. Compared to blue and red variants, gold variants had slightly shorter tobacco rods and greater filter ventilation. Gold variants had lower TNCO when measured using the industry-favored International Organization for Standardization (ISO) protocol. ISO-measured TNCO yields were associated with filter ventilation and tobacco rod length, but not use of expanded tobacco. When measured using the Health Canada Intensive (HCI) protocol, which better emulates human smoking behavior, TNCO emissions were markedly higher, and the emission differences by extent of filter ventilation were minimized, indicating that ISO measurements are misleading. These findings confirm that cigarette color names, and the filter ventilation levels they signify, remain misleading more than a decade after plain packaging eliminated pack colors in Australia, as higher levels of filter ventilation are not associated with reduced TNCO emissions measured using the HCI protocol. Consumer education and communication campaigns could amplify the impacts of Australia's newly passed tobacco legislation banning color and other variant names that imply reduced harm.
香烟品牌的变体名称以及诸如烟雾的味道和口感等特征，可能会误导消费者，使其相信某些产品危害较小。我们评估了在澳大利亚销售的三种常见香烟变体——“金色”、“蓝色”和“红色”的特征，以确定哪些特征因颜色而异，以及哪些特征会影响焦油、尼古丁和一氧化碳（TNCO）的产量。我们测量了八个品牌香烟颜色变体的TNCO产量、物理参数、膨胀烟草和过滤嘴通风情况。过滤嘴通风和膨胀烟草在各品牌和变体中较为常见。与蓝色和红色变体相比，金色变体的烟支略短，过滤嘴通风性更强。使用行业青睐的国际标准化组织（ISO）协议测量时，金色变体的TNCO含量较低。ISO测量的TNCO产量与过滤嘴通风和烟支长度有关，但与膨胀烟草的使用无关。当使用更能模拟人类吸烟行为的加拿大卫生部强化（HCI）协议测量时，TNCO排放量明显更高，并且过滤嘴通风程度造成的排放差异被最小化，这表明ISO测量具有误导性。这些发现证实，在澳大利亚实施平装以消除包装颜色十多年后，香烟颜色名称及其所代表的过滤嘴通风水平仍然具有误导性，因为较高水平的过滤嘴通风与使用HCI协议测量的TNCO排放量降低无关。消费者教育和宣传活动可以增强澳大利亚新通过的烟草立法的影响，该立法禁止使用暗示危害较小的颜色和其他变体名称。
