Eugenol

Eugenol, the active ingredient in cloves, is a local anesthetic agent. It is important for clove cigarettes (cigarettes made from a mixture of cloves and tobacco), which constitute an enormous share of the cigarette market in Indonesia, where BAT has long produced conventional, Western-style cigarettes in competition with clove brands. Traditional clove cigarettes have high tar and high nicotine yields and are made from dark tobaccos instead of the light or blond tobaccos used in Western-style brands. The dark tobaccos produce a harsher smoke, and it is thought that the cloves make it easier for a consumer to inhale the smoke because of the anesthetizing action of the eugenol (14).

B&W was using eugenol as an additive in its cigarettes in 1979 {1822.04}. Eugenol was approved as an additive in cigarettes by BAT's Additives Guidance Panel because of its successful performance in inhalation tests, Ames tests, and other tests from 1982 {1006.01}. The Additives Guidance Panel was an internal BAT group that met in London to review recommendations by its Research and Development Establishment on tobacco additives from various suppliers. Although the government in Jakarta forbade foreign companies from making clove cigarettes, Indonesian clove cigarette manufacturers had begun establishing markets for these products in Australia, Malaysia, and the United States by the early 1980s. This situation afforded BAT a potential market opportunity outside Indonesia for selling clove cigarettes. A summary of the toxicology of eugenol is contained in a 1982 report {1133.01}. This document may be the sort of report on which the Additives Guidance Panel based its decisions.

BAT's interest in eugenol was broader than the Indonesian market, however, and its conception of the pharmacological role of the compound was larger than the local anesthetic action. The BAT research conference held in Brazil in 1983 included a session devoted to eugenol

{1180.28, pp. BW-W2-03741–BW-W2-03742; 1180.07, p. 12}. The discussion centered on developing techniques for measuring eugenol so that its pharmacokinetics and pharmacology could be worked out. Of particular interest to the BAT scientists was its possible action as a central nervous system (CNS) depressant, one that was possibly synergistic with barbiturates and alcohol {1180.28}. The conference summary on eugenol states:

Recognizing the potential for eugenol-flavoured cigarettes in countries outside Indonesia (eg Australia, Malaysia, USA), support was given for the proposed limited GR&DC [Group Research and Development Centre] programme to assess the pharmacology, biochemistry and toxicology of eugenol and its smoke products. The study will include the possible interaction of nicotine as a stimulant with eugenol as a depressant . Significant progress can be expected on this project within one year [emphasis added]. {1180.07, p. 12}