Thermogravimetric study of the pyrolysis of tobacco and several ingredients used in the fabrication of commercial cigarettes: Effect of the presence of MCM-41

In this work, the thermogravimetric study has been performed on the pyrolysis of the tobacco contained in a cigarette of reference and three ingredients widely used as additives in the fabrication of commercial cigarettes (two humectants – glycerol and sorbitol, and a flavour – d(+)-saccharose). The behavior of the different binary tobacco-ingredient mixtures and ternary tobacco–humectant–flavour mixtures has also been studied. The results obtained have permitted us to characterize the number of reaction steps and the corresponding temperature of maximum reaction rate. The comparison between the behavior of the isolated ingredients and their mixtures with the reference tobacco showed the appearance of significant differences, thus indicating the existence of possible tobacco-ingredient interactions in the corresponding pyrolysis process. These results reflect the need to carry out studies of the isolated tobacco ingredients and of the corresponding mixtures in order to obtain valuable information about the contribution of the different additives to the composition of tobacco smoke. This type of information is considered to be essential for the proposal of regulations for tobacco consumption based on the limitation of the use or the maximum contents of eventual ingredients responsible for the increase of toxicity. The eventual catalytic effect of MCM-41 on the pyrolysis of tobacco, ingredients and mixtures has also been studied in order to obtain basic information for helping in the knowledge of the mechanisms involved in the capability of MCM-41 to reduce the toxicity of tobacco smoke.

► Interactions of different additives in the pyrolysis of tobacco are studied.
► Activity of MCM-41 for reducing tobacco toxicity is analyzed.
► The glycerol does not seems to be affected by the presence of MCM-41.
► MCM-41 affect to the mechanisms of reaction involved in the pyrolysis of tobacco, d(+)-saccharose and glycerol.