See DIET.

Granular form of charcoal used in cigarette filters.  Charcoal is treated using an activation process to provide a material with a high surface area and porosity. Its high porosity makes it an efficient adsorbent for the reduction in yields of certain smoke constituents.

Suspension of fine liquid or solid particles in a gas. Cigarette smoke is an example of an aerosol, with a high concentration of particles, vapours and gases in air.

A process used for drying harvested tobaccos, mainly Burley tobaccos.  It is conducted under ambient environmental conditions.

A mixture of individual tobacco grades.  All tobaccos found in commercial cigarettes are blends. As well as tobacco grades, blends may contain a number of other minor components such as ingredients, plant protection agents and migration chemicals.

Measurable constituents of body fluids which show that a substance (e.g. a cigarette smoke toxicant) has been taken into the body. The constituent may be the substance itself or a metabolic breakdown product (“metabolite”) of the substance.  A Biomarker of Exposure for nicotine is its metabolite cotinine.

An alternative name for virginia tobacco.

Chemicals such as sodium or potassium citrates applied to cigarette paper in order to regulate the speed at which a cigarette burns.

The length of unburnt cigarette remaining after smoking is stopped.  Prior to machine smoking the butt length is marked on the cigarette at the greater of 23mm from the mouth end, filter length +8mm or tipping length + 3mm.  During machine smoking measurements smoking is terminated when the cigarette burn line reaches the butt length mark.

Refers to compounds contained in a tobacco blend. It is composed of four sub-categories of compounds: tobacco constituents, plant protection agents, ingredients and migration chemicals.