In this study three mixes of ingredients typically used in the manufacture of kretek cigarettes were tested. Addition of ingredients to kretek cigarettes at levels up to 3-fold of their use level did not discernibly alter the smoke chemistry profile of the selected major toxic constituents of smoke. The lack of differences in smoke composition of the experimental cigarettes with and without ingredients is mirrored by a lack of differences in the in vitro toxicity.
This result confirms the findings observed in a study on ingredients used in American-blended cigarettes (Carmines, 2002), as approximately 260 of the ingredients tested here had been tested there without any evidence that the addition of ingredients to the tobacco might increase the inherent toxicity of cigarette smoke.
Taken together, the results suggest that adding ingredients to
kretek cigarettes at typical use levels does not adversely alter the smoke chemistry or in vitro biological effects normally associated with exposure to mainstream kretek cigarette smoke.