Statement regarding study by Harvard School of Public Health

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company agrees with the position of the Harvard School of Public Health in its report titled: “Trends in Smoke Nicotine Yield and Relationship to Design Characteristics Among Popular U.S. Cigarette Brands 1997-2005” that, “The increase in smoke nicotine yield [observed in its study] does not necessarily signify any change in exposure within the population of smokers…”

“R.J. Reynolds does not have a program to systematically increase the nicotine content or smoke nicotine yields of its products,” says Jeff Gentry, executive vice president of Research and Development for R.J. Reynolds.

Analysis of machine-testing data provided to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) by R.J. Reynolds from 1997-2006 shows small changes both upward and downward in smoke nicotine yield from one year to the next.

“Trends observed in the machine testing data may be due, in whole or in part, to the natural variability of tobacco crops from year to year, small errors in the machine-test method and/or changes in the range of brand styles available for smokers,” Gentry says.

When considering any small differences observed in machine-smoking data, it’s important to fully understand that such data do not indicate an individual smoker’s actual exposure to any smoke constituent, including nicotine. In fact, in discussing the limitations of machine testing data, a representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) has said, “. . . no single machine testing protocol can predict human exposures.”

This statement recognizes that no two smokers smoke in the same way. For example some smokers take long puffs, some take short puffs, some leave long butts, some leave short butts. Additionally, an individual smoker’s behavior varies from cigarette to cigarette. These variations between smokers, and for an individual smoker, each affect the quantity of smoke drawn from a cigarette.

The wide range of smoking behaviors that exist has led the WHO to recently advocate and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to adopt the position that machine measurements, “are not intended to be nor are they valid measures of human exposure or risks. Communicating differences between products in machine measurements as differences in exposure or risk is a misuse of testing using ISO standards.”

R.J. Reynolds has requested to meet with the MDPH and welcomes any opportunity to meet with Harvard School of Public Health officials to discuss its products. R.J. Reynolds is also prepared to discuss the machine testing data the Company submitted to Massachusetts, the relevance of that data to an individual smoker’s actual exposure to any smoke constituent, including nicotine, as well as any other conclusions that can be drawn from the data.

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