Smoking regular and low-nicotine cigarettes results in comparable levels of volatile organic compounds in blood and exhaled breath.

Smokers are exposed to more than 6000 toxic smoke components including volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The objective is to investigate VOCs levels in blood and exhaled breath and their relation, upon smoking three types of cigarettes of one brand with varying declared tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide (TNCO) yields according to ISO 3308. Furthermore, we aim to identify the relevance of these declared yields for human smokers exposed to VOCs. Blood and exhaled breath were sampled from twelve male volunteers directly before and 10 minutes after smoking cigarettes on 3 days (day 1 Marlboro Red (regular), day 2 Marlboro Prime (highly ventilated, low-TNCO), day 3 Marlboro Prime with blocked filter ventilation (taped)). 

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