The health risks of cigarette smoking including cancer and cardiovascular disease may be diminished with reduced exposure to various tobacco constituents. Switching to cigarettes with lower tar and nicotine yield may be one way to reduce exposure. However, if smokers tend to compensate for lowered constituent yields by altering their smoking behavior, then these health benefits may not be realized. The purpose of this project is to determine how smokers adjust their smoking behavior and biological exposure levels when they switch to cigarettes with different yield characteristics. A comprehensive analysis is proposed in which measures of smoking behavior and biological exposure will be simultaneously collected during the initial 2 - 3 weeks of smoking altered cigarette brands. Measures include: tobacco consumption during smoking in the natural environment, smoking style (number and volume of puffs) and inhalation characteristics evaluated during laboratory assessment of smoking behavior, biological levels of both gaseous and particulate tobacco constituents, and subjective responses to altered cigarette types. Simultaneous assessment of behavioral and biological measures of smoking will provide objective information about tobacco exposure levels and allow identification of the behavioral adjustments which may occur when cigarette constituent yields are altered. Three specific studies are proposed which will 1) examine behavioral and biological effects of an abrupt 10-fold reduction in the nicotine yield of smoked cigarettes; 2) compare measures of smoking in subjects who have switched abruptly versus gradually to very low yield cigarettes; and 3) examine the effects of a 2-fold increase in tobacco yield exposure. These studies will provide detailed information concerning the magnitude and time course of changes in smoking behavior and exposure levels which occur when smokers change cigarette brands. The information gained will improve our understanding of the impact on health risks which can be expected when smokers switch to cigarettes with different constituent yields. Thus, the studies are relevant to cancer control policies which seek methods for reducing the health risks associated with cigarette smoking.
