ABSTRACT
For many years, the fate during smoking of a compound added to cigarette tobacco was defined by its fate during pyrolysis as an individually pyrolyzed compound. The stimulus for this assertion was twofold: (1) many publications were available that indicated the pyrolysis of a large number of compounds-from relatively low molecular weight ones, such as acetylene, to much higher molecular weight ones, such as the sterols-yielded tumorigenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); (2) the ingredients to improve the smoking quality of a cigarette were added at such a low level that analytical data on their effect on smoke composition was almost impossible to generate. Because of this analytical problem with additives to the cigarette filler, many investigators utilized pyrolysis of individual tobacco components or additives in an attempt to define the spectrum of products and their influence on tobacco smoke composition and properties.
