Some U.S. cigarettes give smokers more than double the amount of nicotine disclosed on packs, when a new Massachusetts test is used to calculate the level of nicotine.
Philip Morris Cos., RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. and other large U.S. cigarette companies released test results Monday to comply with the state’s ingredient-disclosure law. The firms are challenging parts of the law in court.
Several health officials said that the Massachusetts test is a more accurate measure of the amount of nicotine because it accounts for smokers using their fingers or lips to cover up some ventilation holes in cigarettes. The ventilation holes help dilute the amount of nicotine and tar a smoker inhales.
The Massachusetts test indicates that Philip Morris’ Marlboro king hard-pack and soft-pack cigarettes provided 2.1 milligrams of nicotine apiece “under average smoking conditions,” according to an analysis provided to the state. The same make has 1.1 milligrams of nicotine under the Federal Trade Commission method.
