LEVERAGE OF CIGARETTE ASH POWDER CONCENTRATIONS ON THE ALTERNATING BENDING FATIGUE OF UNSATURATED POLYESTER RESIN

The present work, describes an attempt was made to study the effect of cigarette ash powder concentration,on the micro hardness and alternative bending fatigue behavior of unsaturatedpolyester resin reinforced with various weight fractions of cigarette ash powder (1.25, 3.7, 4.9 Wt. %), which is natural fibers form. The preparation of the composites was achieved using hand lay-up process. During the test, fatigue tests were used by applying a stress ratio sinusoidal wave (R= -1), which is believed to give a marginal increase in temperature. The effects of the fatigue life of the test composites are determined using the stress curves (S) number of cycles (N) (S − N).The results showed that the fatigue life of the composite being produced depends on the percentage of fractions of weight. This findings also shows an increase in fatigue age by four times longer for the weight fraction of (1.25 wt. %) and more than two for cigarette ash powder (3.7 wt. %). The higher weight fraction (4.9 wt. %) of cigarette ash powder, reduced the fatigue life lower than the matrix behavior. Increasing percentage weights of cigarette ash powder increases the toughness measured by hardness for all composites.

Chromium Levels in Tobacco, Filter and Ash of Illicit Brands Cigarettes Marketed in Brazil

Smoking is a public health problem and an important source of exposure to toxic metals. This work describes an efficient analytical method comparable to the ones based on atomic emission techniques for the determination of chromium in different constituent parts of cigarette samples (tobacco, filters and ashes) using electrothermal vaporization–atomic absorption spectrometry. The method was evaluated using 12 samples, and the results showed recovery values between 83 and 107%. The accuracy was also evaluated using a reference sample of tomato leaves (NIST SRM 1573a), which proved the efficiency of the method. The limits of detection of the developed method were 20.4, 75.8 and 80.7 ng g−1 for tobacco, filter and cigarette ash samples, respectively. The average chromium values found for the analyzed samples were in the range of 0.96 to 3.85 and from 0.32 to 0.80 μg/cigarette for tobacco and ashes, respectively. For most pre-burn and post-burn filter samples, the values of chromium concentration remained below limits of detection. The developed method presented adequate results about precision and accuracy, demonstrating its applicability in the determination of chromium in cigarette samples.

Research & Application of Ash Condensation Analysis Technology

On the basis of self-developed cigarette ash analysis software, through the calculation of the cigarette ash index, the ash condensation ability of the different types of cigarettes was analyzed in this paper. The results show that the cigarette ash index has the advantages of simple calculation, quick response of ash analysis software, small coefficient of variation between different cigarette ash condensation index, among different samples there is no obvious little difference in ash condensation index. Therefore, the cigarette ash condensation index can be used as an important index and effective means to measure the performance of the cigarette ash, meanwhile, the index can be applied to the comprehensive assessment of the ash condensation performance of the cigarette paper.

Characterization of Toxic Metals in Tobacco, Tobacco Smoke, and Cigarette Ash from Selected Imported and Local Brands in Pakistan

In this study, concentrations of Cd, Ni, Pb, and Cr were determined in tobacco, tobacco smoke-condensate, and cigarette ash for selected brands used in Pakistan. Smoking apparatus was designed for metal extraction from cigarette smoke. Samples were digested through microwave digester and then analyzed by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer (FAAS). Higher concentration of Ni was detected in imported brands than the counterparts in the local brands. Pb levels were however higher in local brands while significant concentration of Cd was observed in both brands. For Cr, the level in tobacco of local brands was higher than their emitted smoke, whereas imported brands showed higher level in smoke than in tobacco. The cigarette ash retained 65 to 75% of the metal and about 25 to 30% went into the body. While this study revealed the serious requirement to standardize the manufacturing of tobacco products, more importantly is the urgent need for stronger enforcements to put in place to alert the general population about the hazardous effects of cigarettes and the health risks associated with these toxic metals.