The composition of contemporary american and Swedish smokeless tobacco products

Introduction:
This article provides an analysis of the composition of contemporary american and Swedish smokeless tobacco products (STPs), including various styles such as loose and portion snus from Sweden, and chewing tobacco, dry snuff, moist snuff, hard pellet, soft pellet, and plug from the US. The study examines major STP components, including water, nicotine, sugars, humectants, sodium ions, chloride ions, and ash.

Key Points:

* The relative quantities of components vary significantly between different styles of STPs.
* The major component of moist snuff and Swedish loose snus is water, while tobacco comprises the majority of the product mass in dry snuff, hard pellet, and soft pellet products.
* additives such as sugars, propylene glycol, glycerol, and sodium chloride comprise up to around 12% of the STPs, except for plug and chewing tobaccos where sugars comprise 15-30% by mass of the STP on average.
* Significant disagreements were found amongst alternative methods of determining water/moisture content for STPs, particularly when propylene glycol is present.
* Conversion to a dry weight basis (DWB) has important consequences for accuracy of toxicant levels and produces a preferential bias between and within different STP categories in favor of drier products.

Main Message:
This study highlights the challenges associated with determining the composition of STPs and converting actual product contents to dry weight basis values. The choice of measurement technique for water/moisture content significantly impacts the accuracy of toxicant levels, and conversion to DWB can misrepresent actual concentrations in products, especially in wetter STPs. Regulatory agencies and the industry should consider these challenges when establishing standards and guidelines for STPs.

Mcadam, K. G., Kimpton, h., Faizi, a., Porter, a., & Rodu, B. (2019). The composition of contemporary american and Swedish smokeless tobacco products. BMC Chemistry, 13(1), 31. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13065-019-0548-0