Cigarette Smoke Formation Studies. III. The Contribution of Dotriacontane to the Benzo[a]pyrene Content of Smoke

Cigarettes labelled with dotriacontane-16,17-14 were smoked and the maximum conversions of dotriacontane to benzo[a]pyrene calculated. The maximum conversions are discussed in light of the known tobacco information showing that naturally occurring dotriacontane can contribute only 1/1500 of the total benzo[a]pyrene content of mainstream smoke and 1/4200 of the total sidestream smoke benzo[a]pyrene. The results of this study reveal that the dotriacontane naturally present in an average cigarette cannot be, in any normal definition of the word, a meaningful precursor to the B[a]