Physical Dimensions and Tar and Nicotine Yields of Fine-cut Smoking Articles Rolled by German Consumers

In 1994, the European Smoking Tobacco Association (ESTA) commissioned and reported a study undertaken in the Netherlands to determine the making habits of roll-your-own smokers. The study included laboratory smoking of the collected smoking articles for the determination of tar and nicotine. In 1997, ESTA commissioned a similar study for Germany involving German fine-cut smokers. This paper reviews the data produced from the German study and compares the data with that produced in the Netherlands. An independent market research agency recruited known smokers of fine-cut tobacco. They were given the most popular brand of tobacco and the most popular brand of booklet paper. The consumers were instructed to make a fine-cut smoking article for testing each time they wanted to smoke. These smoking articles were placed in protective tins and collected by the research agency for analysis. An independent laboratory in Germany undertook the smoking and analysis. This study shows that a German roll-your-own smoker uses an average of 830 mg tobacco and makes a product that is 7.6 mm in diameter. German booklet paper is slightly shorter than Dutch paper. German products are more cylindrical than Dutch products and this probably accounts for the much reduced variability of German products compared with Dutch products. The mean tar yield of these articles was 12 mg and the mean nicotine yield was 0.9 mg.