Edited title. See Rule 9. -jpm
Hey all,
Relatively new pipe smoker and completely new forum poster. I wanted to share some interesting research that is relatively recent (2018) in regard to activated charcoal filtration of gas phase and particulate phase radicals. First, a bit of background -
I am a lifetime athlete, competing at a high level from grade school up through university and I have continue my active lifestyle into adulthood. I am also a lifetime sufferer of asthma which is both exercise and environmentally induced. In addition to the above, I am cursed with a penchant for cigars and more recently, pipes. I also come from a family filled with scientists, educators, orators, and professional debaters.
We all know that there is an inherent risk to our health that we take when enjoying tobacco products in whichever form they may be. Generally, more exposure (amount and frequency over time) results in a higher risk, and in most cases the level of harm is greatest with cigarette usage and lower (although not absent) for pipe/cigar smokers.
In an effort to minimize risk and retain my health as well as athletic performance, I have taken a number of steps. I smoke one bowl a week. I smoke for no longer than 40-50 minutes. I keep a cool drink with me that I sip on regularly while enjoying my pipe. I only smoke outdoors and make sure there is a cross breeze that pushes the smoke from my bowl away from my face. I wash my hands and face immediately after my pipe and also rinse/brush my teeth/mouth. And, finally, getting to the point of this first post of mine, I use a filter.
I was, however, skeptical in regard to their efficacy. Before making the decision to purchase filtered pipes, I poked around for some research. I was unable to find any reputable shred of evidence, despite what savinelli says on their website, that supports balsa as an effective form of filtration for reducing harmful particulates. I did, however, find a paper that looks into the efficacy of activated charcoal in the filtration of tobacco smoke.
The filtration used is slightly different, and they were focusing on filtering cigarette smoke, but the approach is controlled and scientific with some interesting results.
I will post the abstract below, but I highly recommend reading the paper to understand the finer details. The 6mm and 9mm charcoal filters that are sold for pipes differ in construction from what they were using in their lab testing. It is also difficult to find any figures on how much activated charcoal is actually included in activated charcoal pipe filters. However, there is a strong possibility that there is some beneficial filtration that occurs based on the findings. (important sections in the abstract in bold)
Abstract -
The addition of charcoal in cigarette filters may be an effective means of reducing many toxicants from tobacco smoke. Free radicals are a highly reactive class of oxidants abundant in cigarette smoke, and here we evaluated the effectiveness of charcoal to reduce free radical delivery by comparing radical yields from commercially available cigarettes with charcoal-infused filters to those without and by examining the effects of incorporating charcoal into conventional cigarette filters on radical production. Commercial cigarettes containing charcoal filters produced 40% fewer gas-phase radicals than did regular cellulose acetate filter cigarettes when smoked using the International Organization of Standardization (ISO, p = 0.07) and Canadian Intense (CI, p < 0.01) smoking protocols. While mean-particulate-phase radicals were 25–27% lower in charcoal cigarettes, differences from noncharcoal products were not significant (p = 0.06–0.22). When cellulose acetate cigarette filters were modified to incorporate different types and amounts of activated charcoal, reductions in gas-phase (>70%), but not particulate-phase, radicals were observed. The reductions in gas-phase radicals were similar for the three types of charcoal. Decreases in radical production were dose-responsive with increasing amounts of charcoal (25–300 mg) with as little as 25 mg of activated charcoal reducing gas-phase radicals by 41%. In all studies, charcoal had less of an effect on nicotine delivery, which was decreased 33% at the maximal amount of charcoal tested (300 mg). Overall, these results support the potential consideration of charcoal in cigarette filters as a means to reduce exposure to toxic free radicals from cigarettes and other combustible tobacco products.
Anyway, just something I found interesting! Again, please read the paper as it is important in understanding their methods (types of filters used, types of charcoal, doses, smoking technique used, etc)
-Dankpipez
Hey all,
Relatively new pipe smoker and completely new forum poster. I wanted to share some interesting research that is relatively recent (2018) in regard to activated charcoal filtration of gas phase and particulate phase radicals. First, a bit of background -
I am a lifetime athlete, competing at a high level from grade school up through university and I have continue my active lifestyle into adulthood. I am also a lifetime sufferer of asthma which is both exercise and environmentally induced. In addition to the above, I am cursed with a penchant for cigars and more recently, pipes. I also come from a family filled with scientists, educators, orators, and professional debaters.
We all know that there is an inherent risk to our health that we take when enjoying tobacco products in whichever form they may be. Generally, more exposure (amount and frequency over time) results in a higher risk, and in most cases the level of harm is greatest with cigarette usage and lower (although not absent) for pipe/cigar smokers.
In an effort to minimize risk and retain my health as well as athletic performance, I have taken a number of steps. I smoke one bowl a week. I smoke for no longer than 40-50 minutes. I keep a cool drink with me that I sip on regularly while enjoying my pipe. I only smoke outdoors and make sure there is a cross breeze that pushes the smoke from my bowl away from my face. I wash my hands and face immediately after my pipe and also rinse/brush my teeth/mouth. And, finally, getting to the point of this first post of mine, I use a filter.
I was, however, skeptical in regard to their efficacy. Before making the decision to purchase filtered pipes, I poked around for some research. I was unable to find any reputable shred of evidence, despite what savinelli says on their website, that supports balsa as an effective form of filtration for reducing harmful particulates. I did, however, find a paper that looks into the efficacy of activated charcoal in the filtration of tobacco smoke.
The filtration used is slightly different, and they were focusing on filtering cigarette smoke, but the approach is controlled and scientific with some interesting results.
I will post the abstract below, but I highly recommend reading the paper to understand the finer details. The 6mm and 9mm charcoal filters that are sold for pipes differ in construction from what they were using in their lab testing. It is also difficult to find any figures on how much activated charcoal is actually included in activated charcoal pipe filters. However, there is a strong possibility that there is some beneficial filtration that occurs based on the findings. (important sections in the abstract in bold)
Abstract -
The addition of charcoal in cigarette filters may be an effective means of reducing many toxicants from tobacco smoke. Free radicals are a highly reactive class of oxidants abundant in cigarette smoke, and here we evaluated the effectiveness of charcoal to reduce free radical delivery by comparing radical yields from commercially available cigarettes with charcoal-infused filters to those without and by examining the effects of incorporating charcoal into conventional cigarette filters on radical production. Commercial cigarettes containing charcoal filters produced 40% fewer gas-phase radicals than did regular cellulose acetate filter cigarettes when smoked using the International Organization of Standardization (ISO, p = 0.07) and Canadian Intense (CI, p < 0.01) smoking protocols. While mean-particulate-phase radicals were 25–27% lower in charcoal cigarettes, differences from noncharcoal products were not significant (p = 0.06–0.22). When cellulose acetate cigarette filters were modified to incorporate different types and amounts of activated charcoal, reductions in gas-phase (>70%), but not particulate-phase, radicals were observed. The reductions in gas-phase radicals were similar for the three types of charcoal. Decreases in radical production were dose-responsive with increasing amounts of charcoal (25–300 mg) with as little as 25 mg of activated charcoal reducing gas-phase radicals by 41%. In all studies, charcoal had less of an effect on nicotine delivery, which was decreased 33% at the maximal amount of charcoal tested (300 mg). Overall, these results support the potential consideration of charcoal in cigarette filters as a means to reduce exposure to toxic free radicals from cigarettes and other combustible tobacco products.
Anyway, just something I found interesting! Again, please read the paper as it is important in understanding their methods (types of filters used, types of charcoal, doses, smoking technique used, etc)
-Dankpipez
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