Abandoning The Search

By the late 1970s the tobacco industry had all but abandoned its search for a "safe" cigarette. The industry's scientists had found it much more difficult than at first anticipated to identify and remove the toxic elements from cigarettes. Perhaps more important, however, tobacco industry lawyers were becoming increasingly concerned about government regulation and litigation.

Sea Island Research Conference, 1980

BAT's 1980 research conference was held in Sea Island, Georgia. The documents contain a list of proposed topics for the meeting, along with the comments of Dr. R. A. Sanford, then vice president of research and development at B&W {1132.01}. Sanford rated the various topics on a scale of 1 to 3 (1 = top priority; 2 = definite interest; 3 = little or no interest). He gave the lowest priority to topics such as short-term biological assays and studies of smoke irritation, topics that had dominated discussion at earlier conferences.

Dr. Sanford actually discouraged additional toxicological testing, as his comment on short-term bioassays indicates:

We need evaluation of externally developed methods for critique. We don't want GR&DC [that is, BAT itself] to develop methods [emphasis added]. {1132.01, table}

He has this to say about irritation and inhalation of smoke:

Dangerous area. Please do not publish or circulate. No more work needed on biological side [emphasis added]. {1132.01, table}

The initial enthusiasm for toxicology work to refine and perfect the product had been abandoned. In contrast, the areas ranked as top priority included the topics nicotine, basic combustion research, sidestream research, flavor research, and ventilated cigarette technology.

Sanford's choice of priorities suggests that by the early 1980s the tobacco industry had dramatically changed its focus: instead of trying to understand and eliminate the carcinogens and other toxins in tobacco smoke, it was now trying to avoid developing any potentially damaging knowledge of its products. Short-term bioassays remained of interest, but only if they were developed extramurally, possibly because of concern about the potential for discovery through litigation. By 1980 the R&D staff at B&W had seemingly come to regard continued research on the inhalation toxicology of tobacco smoke as potentially hazardous to the company.

Responding To The Market, 1985

The deemphasis of reduced toxicity as a primary factor shaping cigarette design at B&W is illustrated in an April 1985 letter from E. E. Kohnhorst, manager of the B&W Development Center {1136.01}. He wrote J. A. B. Kellagher of BAT (Millbank) in response to correspondence that Kellagher had sent to B&W about carbon monoxide reduction technology. The letter praises work that Kellagher had shared with B&W about a project that correlated "the more difficult sensory attributes to the smoke deliveries," a project that would be relevant "for cigarette designs in parts of the world where carbon monoxide (CO) delivery in cigarettes is under pressure of statutory regulation." Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless poison gas that binds to blood and reduces its ability to deliver oxygen to the body; the carbon monoxide in tobacco smoke is one element that damages the cardiovascular system.

Kohnhorst notes that there was no such pressure to lower CO deliveries of cigarettes in the United States, even though by the late 1970s the

Federal Trade Commission's "tar" tables included a listing for CO. As Kohnhorst points out, "the CO delivery of Marlboro KS [king size] in 1979 was 15.5 mg/cig. and today it runs on an average 15.2 mg/cig." Consequently, Kohnhorst explains,

Within B&W, we have rarely attempted to develop new products specifically designed to deliver low CO, except perhaps a prototype of FACT that was kept ready on a turn-key basis in the event of a marketing need for such product. This was done through a combination of filter ventilation, cigarette paper permeability, and appropriate cigarette paper additive. Needless to say, such need did not arise. {1136.01, p. 1}

Although the addition of shredded dried stems (SDS) to B&W's tobacco blends in the fourth quarter of 1985 would incidentally lower CO yield by 10 percent with a 12 percent level of stem addition, the reduction in CO yield was not the company's primary purpose in using the additive:

Its benefit is process simplification, increased yield, reduced manufacturing cost, improved cigarette physical properties, and results in reduced CO generation.

...

Beyond these plans, the emphasis at B&W is on product amelioration. The major part of our resources is devoted to understanding what contributes to the harshness of cigarette smoke. Improvement of our products to achieve superiority over competitive products is a more pressing need. Therefore, I do not see involving ourselves in designing products with the limited objective of reducing CO in the near future unless marketing needs dictate otherwise [emphasis added]. {1136.01, p. 2}

Kohnhorst is blunt in telling Kellagher that B&W has more pressing things to worry about in product design than reducing a toxic constituent—beating the competition on mildness. This attitude markedly differed from that taken by BAT scientists in the 1960s, when they were trying so hard to reduce the "biological activity" of cigarettes.