Boston – Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health say they have confirmed a study by the state that found nicotine levels in cigarettes increased from 1997 until 2005.
The analysis, based on data submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health by cigarette manufacturers, found that increases in smoke nicotine yield per cigarette averaged 1.6 percent each year over a seven-year period.
The health-department study, released in October, examined nicotine levels in more than 100 brands over a six-year period. The study showed a steady climb in the amount of nicotine delivered to the lungs of smokers.
Gregory Connolly, head of the Tobacco Control Research Program at the Harvard School of Public Health, said the increase found in Harvard’s study is primarily because of an increase in nicotine in the raw tobacco used in the cigarettes.
“There’s something going on either with the type of tobacco they’re using or the addition of more nicotine to the reconstituted tobacco. We just don’t know,” Connolly said.
Cigarette manufacturers disputed the findings of both studies.
Cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris USA said data reported to the state by the company show nicotine yields for Marlboro cigarettes were the same in 2006 as in 1997.
