The content of tar in cigarettes sold in Poland in the years 1983–2000

Cigarette smoke contains over forty carcinogenic compounds, including tar that is evaluated as carcinogen A for human beings. The World Health Organization recommends reduction of carcinogenic and toxic substances in cigarettes as one of the elements in cancer control programs and tobacco control policies. In the beginning of 1990s, the Polish norm for tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide was first time enforced in Poland. This paper makes an attempt to collect available data on the content of tar in cigarettes sold in Polish market between 1983 and 2000, analyze time trends for average tar content in these cigarettes, compare Polish data with study results from Unites States, Finland and other Central and Eastern European countries, and evaluate whether tobacco product control measures that have been enforced at that time contributed to reduction of tar in cigarettes sold in Poland and what was its potential impact on time trends in lung cancer mortality in the last decades.

Cigarette smoke contains over forty carcinogenic compounds, including tar that is evaluated as carcinogen A for human beings. The World Health Organization recommends reduction of carcinogenic and toxic substances in cigarettes as one of the elements in cancer control programs and tobacco control policies. In the beginning of 1990s, the Polish norm for tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide was first time enforced in Poland. This paper makes an attempt to collect available data on the content of tar in cigarettes sold in Polish market between 1983 and 2000, analyze time trends for average tar content in these cigarettes, compare Polish data with study results from Unites States, Finland and other Central and Eastern European countries, and evaluate whether tobacco product control measures that have been enforced at that time contributed to reduction of tar in cigarettes sold in Poland and what was its potential impact on time trends in lung cancer mortality in the last decades.