Smoke exposure in pipe and cigar smokers. Serum thiocyanate measures
T. F. Pechacek, A. R. Folsom, R. de Gaudermaris, D. R. Jacobs Jr, R. V. Luepker, R. F. Gillum and H. Blackburn
Pipe or cigar smoking traditionally has been considered a less risky
alternative to cigarette smoking. Some surveys and experimental studies
have suggested, however, that former cigarette smokers who switch to cigars
and/or pipe (CP) are more likely to inhale then CP users who never smoked
cigarettes; but this relationship has not been consistently noted. To
clarify smoke-exposure levels from CP smoking, smoking histories and serum
thiocyanate (SCN) levels were studied in 9,106 adults aged 25 to 74 years
in population-based surveys of seven upper Midwestern communities. Analyses
of the 306 male CP smokers indicated a significantly higher SCN level in
the ex-cigarette-smoking CP users vs the CP users who never smoked
cigarettes. Serum thiocyanate levels of both CP groups were significantly
higher than those of nonsmokers and lower than cigarette-only smokers.
However, the number of pipe bowls or cigars smoked per day was also
significantly related to SCN levels, and this could account for much of the
association between SCN and previous cigarette smoking status. Individuals
currently smoking four or more pipe bowls or four or more cigars per day
had an elevated smoke exposure equivalent to about ten cigarettes per day,
whether or not they previously smoked cigarettes. Because of these findings
and because former cigarette smokers were more likely to report heavy CP
usage, cigarette smokers should be advised to quit rather than to switch to
a pipe or cigar.
