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Flavoring agents are added to cigarettes to improve taste. There are mostly permitted food additives, but some of them are restricted for use in food, cosmetics, and toys, since they can cause allergic reactions. Previous studies have investigated the levels of flavoring agents in tobacco but none has focused on their content in filter tips and capsules. Moreover, no studies have assessed the risk of adding allergenic flavoring agents in cigarettes. Here, we developed and validated a simultaneous analysis method for 25 allergenic flavoring agents and menthol with gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to determine levels of flavoring agents in the tobacco, filter tips, and capsules of 54 commercial cigarettes in Korea. All cigarettes contained at least one allergenic flavoring agent regardless of the inclusion of flavoring capsules. Importantly, the filter tips and the capsules contained higher levels of flavoring agents than tobacco, highlighting the importance of the quantification of flavoring agents in these parts of cigarettes. Nevertheless, the risk assessment based on their levels in cigarettes suggested that their exposure was maintained at a safe level. However, the risk assessed from maximum menthol, linalool, and cinnamaldehyde exceeded one-tenth of derived no-effect levels, suggesting the need for further studies on their risk to human health.

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The effect of simulants, repeated use, washing, and oiling on the release of toxic metals from metallic kitchen utensils was investigated. The release of As, Cd, Cr, Ni, and Pb from kitchen utensils composed of stainless steel, aluminum, copper alloy, and cast iron into food simulants was quantified using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. The results show that this release of toxic metals was highly dependent on pH. Generally, the release of toxic metals tended to decrease with repeated use, and the release of Cr and Ni from stainless steel samples was significantly higher in the first test, compared to the third test. The washing conditions affected the release of As and Cr, whose release levels were higher when washing only with water and with a steel wool pad, respectively. Furthermore, oiling cast iron cookware reduced the release of As, Cd, Cr, and Ni into acidic simulants by 66%, 83%, 71%, and 15%, respectively. The margin of exposure (MOE) was calculated for each toxic metal; the calculated MOE values indicated that it is improbable that the current level of exposure from metallic kitchen utensils would pose a health risk in Korea.

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Evaluating the characteristics of exposure to mainstream cigarette smoke is an essential field in tobacco research because of the large risk burden among smokers. Detailed evaluation of the complex factors pertaining to the exposure of smokers to mainstream cigarette smoke was attempted by analysis of discarded cigarette butts. A total of 5475 samples of discarded cigarette butts was collected to investigate the exposure characteristics in relation to Korean smokers. The basic physico-chemical characteristics of cigarettes, including the filter length, filter type, menthol addition, and nicotine and tar content, were determined and the manufacturer and cigarette size were identified. The tobacco-burned percentage (TBP)) and tar staining were used as physical markers, and actual human exposure to cigarette smoke was determined using the part filter method. Multiple linear regression analyses and generalized ordinal logistic regression analysis were conducted to identify the relationship between the socio-demographic factors and the physico-chemical characteristics of the cigarettes themselves and the exposure characteristics. Significant associations were observed between the TBP and age group, occupational group, manufacturer, tar staining, ISO tar content, and filter length. Increased odds of smoking with a heavier tar stain among Korean smokers were associated with blue collar workers vs. other workers, manufacturer B vs. other manufacturers, recess filter vs. other filter types, ISO tar content, and TBP. Finally, significant associations between the log-transformed human-smoked tar and nicotine yields and occupational group, the TBP, tar staining, and physico-chemical properties of cigarettes were found and were used to propose models for predicting the actual exposure to tar and nicotine. The proposed models account for 60-61% and 47-49% of the variance of human exposure to tar and nicotine, respectively. This analysis of discarded cigarette butts revealed that various factors, including socio-demographic factors such as age group and occupational group, as well as the physico-chemical properties of cigarette products such as the filter type and length, cigarette size, ISO tar and nicotine content, and mentholation, affect the characteristics of exposure of Korean smokers to mainstream cigarette smoke.

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Mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOH) are widely used in the food industry for applications such as printing inks, additives, adhesives, and processing aids for food additives. Recently, the migration of MOH from food contact paper and board into foods has raised public health concerns. In this study, a total of 110 food contact paper and board samples, including baking and cooking paper (23), baking cups (28), food packaging bags (22), lunch boxes (8), party plates (26), and straws (3) were evaluated to quantify the content and short-term migration levels of MOH. The MOH were separated into mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH)/polyolefin oligomeric saturated hydrocarbons (POSH) and mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH) via a validated on-line liquid chromatography-gas chromatography-flame ionisation detection (LC-GC-FID) technique. The coating materials of the sample products comprised polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, and silicone. The effects of the coating materials on the content and migration of MOH/POSH were evaluated. Quantitative analysis of the MOH in the samples showed that the MOSH/POSH and MOAH content varied widely, ranging from 16 to 5626 mg kg-1 for MOH, regardless of the coating materials. Short-term migration of MOSH/POSH was observed only in samples with polyolefinic coatings, such as polyethylene and polypropylene, in experiments conducted at 25 °C for 10 min, although the extent of MOAH migration for all samples was at the trace level. The migration of MOSH/POSH was detected within the range of 0.93 to 62.3 µg L-1 in 22 samples, and the migration of MOAH was detected within the range of 0.80 to 2.6 µg L-1 in only 4 samples. These results demonstrate that although the short-term migration potential of MOH is generally negligible, the migration of MOSH/POSH into wet fatty foods can be accelerated by polyolefinic coatings, even within a very short time.

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Condensed phosphates are deliberately added to the fishery and processed marine food products on purpose to increase the weight of products. However, excessive intake overwhelming bodily homoeostasis can result in phosphate toxicity such as mineral and bone disorders, associated with chronic kidney diseases, and cardiovascular events. Rapid analysis for condensed phosphates is required to detect the illegal adulteration of processed marine products. We optimised an analytical method using ion chromatography for the rapid and selective detection of condensed phosphates in various kinds of fishery and processed marine products. We compared the performance of three columns (IonPac AS11, AS11-HC, and AS16) for the detection of condensed phosphates with respect to time of analysis and sensitivity. The IonPac AS11 column exhibited the shortest retention time for the major condensed phosphates (pyro-, tri-, and trimetaphosphate), the highest sensitivity for trimetaphosphate, and good repeatability and precision. Microwave and boiling processing were examined as methods to prevent hydrolysis of condensed phosphates into orthophosphate, which is critical in distinguishing intentionally added condensed phosphates from naturally occurring orthophosphate. Microwave treatment was determined to be the more effective method to suppress hydrolysis of condensed phosphates to orthophosphate. Furthermore, microwave processing could be used for thawing the frozen samples, saving extra effort and time. We confirmed that the method exhibits good recovery (80% or more) and precision (%RSD < 10%) for samples with various matrices. With the method, 14 kinds of fishery and processed marine food products were successfully analysed for condensed phosphates. Especially, we identified that phosphate levels in the processed shrimp and dried shredded squid samples exceeded the maximum allowable levels specified in the CODEX standard. We believe that our method would be useful for the rapid analysis of condensed phosphates in various types of fishery and processed marine food products.

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WST-1 [Water Soluble Tetrazolium-1; 2-(4-Iodophenyl)-3-(4-nitrophenyl)-5-(2,4-disulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium, monosodium salt)] is widely used in the cell viability assays replacing MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide). A water-soluble formazan dye (4-[1-(4-Iodophenyl)-5-(4-nitrophenyl)formaz-3-yl]-1,3-benzene disulfonate, disodium salt) is produced from the reduction of WST-1 tetrazolium, of which optical density at 450 nm is measured to evaluate cell viability. Colorful substances may interfere with spectrometric measurement, and a method to specifically detect WST-1 formazan is required. Here, a simple, rapid, sensitive, and specific ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to UV detector (UPLC-UV) was developed and validated for the WST-1 formazan. For the application to cell viability assay, the supernatant from WST-1 assay was injected without sample preparation procedure and a single run was completed within 5 min. Chromatographic separation was achieved on BEH C18 column (1.7 µm, 2.1 × 50 mm) using gradient elution with the mobile phase of water and acetonitrile. The standard curves were linear over the concentration range of 2.5-120 µg/mL WST-1 formazan, which encompasses WST-1 formazan concentrations from 2% cell viability to 2 fold of 100% cell viability. The intra- and inter-day precisions were measured to be below 5% and accuracies were within the range of 91.8-104.9%. The validated method was successfully applied to the test of colorful substances in vitro eye irritation test with a human cornea-like epithelium, and in vitro cytotoxicity in HaCaT, human keratinocyte cell line.

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Recently, the World Health Organization Study Group on Tobacco Product Regulation (WHO TobReg) announced a priority list of 38 toxicants among the more than 7000 chemicals found in cigarette smoke, building upon previous lists of toxicants in cigarette smoke. Here, we conducted a comprehensive study on the quantitative exposure and risk characterization of these priority toxicants in mainstream cigarette smoke listed by the WHO TobReg. The human-smoked toxicant yields estimated from spent cigarette butts of a total of 361 smokers using the part-filter method (PFM) were applied to current exposure and risk estimation for the first time. The PFM can estimate human-smoked yields of toxicants using smokers' maximum mouth-level exposure. The human-smoked yield of each toxicant was converted to systemic uptake by considering bioavailability. Risk indicators-including the incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR), cumulative ILCR, hazard quotient (HQ), hazard indices (HIs), and margin of exposure (MOE)-were estimated from the systemic uptake of toxicants combined with Korean exposure factors by gender and age group as well as for total smokers. It was demonstrated that cigarette smoking results in significant cancer and non-cancer health risks. A sensitivity analysis showed that the human-smoked toxicant yield is one of the most important contributors to risk level variations. Our risk estimation suggested that previous risk assessments might have ignored or underestimated the uncertainty of risk assessment. In conclusion, we assessed the risk level of the 38 toxicants on the priority list developed by the WHO TobReg and provided a Korean-specific priority list for the regulations on the emission of cigarette smoke.

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Currently, capsule cigarettes have been introduced by tobacco industries and their sales have increased exponentially. However, the capsule flavoring ingredients and their safety are still unknown. Although the contents of menthol and other ingredients directly added to cigarettes have been determined extensively, no analogous study exists for menthol-containing cigarette capsules. Basic physical properties of capsules in all 31 different capsule cigarettes commercially available in Korea were investigated, and their menthol contents were determined in this study. Other ingredients in these capsules were also qualitatively analyzed; methyl octanoate, menthone and isopulegol as well as menthol were detected in all the capsules. There is considerable variability in basic physical properties and menthol contents of cigarette capsules depending on their brand styles. The menthol contents of capsules and whole cigarettes are similar or higher than those previously reported for conventional menthol cigarettes. This is the first report on the physical properties of capsules and the fact that a wide range of menthol contents in capsule cigarettes, regardless of flavor types, allows smokers to select menthol content to their liking.

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