Significant reduction of carcinogenic compounds in tobacco smoke by the use of zeolite catalysts

✍ Scribed by W.M Meier; K Siegmann

• Book ID: 104431860
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 100 KB
• Volume: 33
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1387-1811
• DOI: 10.1016/s1387-1811(99)00162-6

✦ Synopsis

Zeolites play an increasingly important role in toxicology and the life sciences. A new example is the removal of significant amounts of carcinogenic compounds from cigarette smoke. These compounds, particularly nitrosamines and polycyclic aromatics (PAHs), are well known to constitute a serious health risk. Most effective in reducing toxic compounds are zeolite catalysts placed directly on the tobacco. The zeolite catalysts are activated when they are approached by the hot zone in the burning cigarette, where temperatures reach around 800°C. Of the nitrosamines some 40 to 50% can be eliminated from the mainstream (inhaled by smokers), and around 50 to 70% from the sidestream (the smoke formed in between puffs). In the case of polycyclic aromatics, shape selectivity could be observed when using Y-type zeolites. With these zeolites nicotine levels remain practically unaffected in the mainstream and are distinctly reduced in the sidestream.