Testing Methods

(A) Sampling and Conditioning. Conditioning for testing of tobacco products shall be done in accordance with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), 3402, 3rd edition, 1991- 07-01 entitled Tobacco and Tobacco Products — Atmosphere for Conditioning and Testing. Cigarettes shall be sampled using international standard ISO § 243:98 (E) entitled Cigarette — Sampling. At a minimum, for each brand sampled, 35 packages of cigarettes should be purchased from a Massachusetts wholesaler at a single point in time, which shall be mailed or delivered to the Department of Public Health from the point of purchase. Smokeless tobacco products will follow the sampling protocol outlined in Protocol for Analysis of Nicotine, Total Moisture, and pH in Smokeless Tobacco Products. (B) Total Nicotine Content. The protocol for measuring nicotine content in cigarette and smokeless tobacco products and for moisture content and pH in smokeless tobacco products is described in Protocol for Analysis of Nicotine, Total Moisture, and pH in Smokeless Tobacco Products, (or most recent amended version) announced in the Federal Register of May 2, 1997, volume 62, no. 85, pp. 24115-24116. In measuring nicotine content, the cigarette manufacturer shall use the following sampling method: two cigarettes shall be randomly selected from each pack and conditioned, the tobacco rod split open, and the cigarette tobacco mixed thoroughly before weighing. The minimum sample size shall be 100 grams of tobacco. If the weight of the tobacco is less than 100 grams, additional cigarettes shall be randomly selected from each pack. (C) Percent Filter Tip Ventilation means the level of air dilution in the whole smoke, as provided by the perforations made in the cigarette filter tip, described in percent. This shall be measured using the Filter Dilution (Ventilation) Testing Instrument (FDT) from Fidus Instrument Corporation, product no. FDT232; or FIAL Tip and Envelope Ventilation/Pressure Drop QTM5U machine; or equal approved by the Department, and shall be used in accordance with manufacturer instructions. Two cigarettes shall be randomly selected from each sampled pack, conditioned, and tested for percent filter ventilation. The average percent filter ventilation shall be computed for the 100 cigarettes tested. (D) Modified FTC Testing Method. (1) Nicotine delivery under average smoking conditions shall be evaluated using the Cambridge Method, which has been approved by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as the standard for nicotine testing since 1966, and adopted for international purposes by the ISO. See Federal Register, Vol. 32, No. 147, page 11178, dated August 1, 1967, as modified by the FTC in Federal Register, Vol. 45, No. 134, pages 46483-46487, dated July 10, 1980 ISO 10315, 91-08-01 entitled Cigarette-Determination of Nicotine in Smoke Condensates-Gas Chromatographic Method; ISO 3308, 3 rd edition, 1991-10-15, Routine Analytical Cigarette-smoking Machine - Definitions of Standard Conditions; and ISO 7201, 2nd edition, 1997-01-15, Routine Analytical Smoking Machine Additional Test Methods. Two cigarettes shall be randomly selected from each pack for a sample of 50 cigarettes. _________________________________________ (2) The Department has modified the FTC and ISO conditions to require the following changes to the testing method: (a) Puff volume as prescribed in the FTC method and in the ISO 3308:4.3 shall be increased from 35 ml to 45 ml; (b) Puff frequency as prescribed in the FTC method and ISO 3308:4.4 shall be changed from one puff each minute to one puff every 30 seconds; (c) Puff duration shall remain at two seconds; (d) 50% of the ventilation holes must be blocked by placing a strip of mylar adhesive tape, Scotch Brand product no. 600 Transparent Tape (Acetate) or other method approved by the Department. The tape shall be cut so that it covers 50% of the circumference and is tightly secured from the end of the filter to the tipping overwrap seam; (e) Number of cigarettes smoke per port shall be three, provided that the limit of 150 milligrams of tar is not exceeded (see ISO 4387). (E) pH Testing Method. Testing for pH shall be conducted on a puff by puff basis, in accordance with the testing method described in Sensabough, A.J., Jr. and Candiff, R.H., A New Technique for Determining the pH of Whole Tobacco Smoke, Tob.Sci., 11:25-30 (1967) and Brunnemann, K.D. and Hoffman, D., The pH of Tobacco Smoke, Food, Cosmet. Toxical., 112:115 (1974), or comparable testing method approved by the Department.