JPH0775535B2 - Filter for cigarette combustion gas - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a cigarette combustion gas filter.

More specifically, the present invention relates to a cigarette combustion gas filter containing a radical scavenger, for example, a cigarette direct smoking filter or a smoke-containing air cleaning filter for indirect smoking.

2. Description of the Related Art There is no doubt that smoking tobacco is harmful to humans from statistical reports such as stack volume and cancer incidence. However, the true cause of the harm is unclear.

To date, many filters have been manufactured and are commercially available for the purpose of removing harmful substances contained in smoking smoke in order to reduce the harmful effects of smoking. These conventionally known filters are intended to remove particulate matter such as tar and nicotine, and 99% or more of these particulate matter can be removed.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention As described above, in spite of the widespread use of filters capable of removing tar and nicotine from cigarettes, the present situation is that the harmfulness of cigarettes cannot be eliminated. In other words, although particulate matter such as tar and nicotine is a kind of harmful substances, it is possible to remove other harmful substances that are present in the smoke of cigarettes even by using the filter currently used. Because there is no.

Recent studies on the effects of tobacco on the human body reveal that the radicals present in tobacco smoke pass through previously known filters and have a significant negative effect on the human body, especially on genes. (Eg Church DFand
Pryor WA, Enviroyment health Perspectives, 1984,1
~ 36).

Cigarette radicals, one of these harmful substances, are present in the smoke of smoke directly smoked by smokers, that is, in mainstream smoke, and also in the smoke rising from cigarettes, that is, in sidestream smoke.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 50-84478 discloses a method for removing such free radicals using N, N-diphenyl-p-phenylenediamine as an active ingredient. However, the purpose is to prevent the health of the human body from being compromised, and the safety of the substance itself has been confirmed, especially when it is used for cigarette filters, etc., which may come into direct contact with the mouth. Must-have.

Radicals are a generic term for those with unpaired electrons. Therefore, different radicals are usually derived from different compounds, and the nature and reactivity of these radicals are naturally different. For example, a methyl radical derived from a compound having a methyl group and a triphenylmethyl radical derived from a compound having a triphenylmethyl group have extremely different reactivity. Scavengers for some of the radicals are known as necessary. For example, it is a polymerization inhibitor for preventing radical polymerization reaction. However, this is the only known effect of polymerization inhibition under certain conditions for certain radicals. Radicals present in cigarette smoke are stable despite high reactivity. This fact is surprising in light of the conventional wisdom about radicals.

An object of the present invention is to provide a filter for removing radicals present in cigarette smoke under smoking conditions.

Means for Solving the Problems The present inventors have earnestly studied a filter capable of removing radicals generated in cigarettes. As a result, they have found that the filter using a radical scavenger described later has a large effect of removing the filter even under smoking conditions, and completed the present invention.

That is, the present invention relates to tryptophan, glutathione, L
-A cigarette combustion gas filter comprising at least one compound selected from the group consisting of cysteine, N-acetyl cysteine, tyrosine, arginine and oxyglutamic acid.

Typical examples of the cigarette combustion gas filter include a cigarette filter that directly contacts the mouth, a smoke-containing air purification filter, and the like. For cigarette filters that come into direct contact with the mouth, the safety of the radical scavenger itself is required. Therefore, the amino acid of the present invention is preferable as the radical scavenger used in the cigarette filter.

In the filter of the present invention, the radical scavenger used can be incorporated into the filter by various methods.

In the case where the radical scavenger is solid, for example, tryptophan, tryptophan is dissolved in water, activated carbon or the like known as a filter packing is added and dried under reduced pressure, and tryptophan is previously supported on the activated carbon or the like.
Then, a method of filling the activated carbon or the like between the filters and a method of dissolving tryptophan in water or the like and impregnating the filter fibers such as cellulose acetate fibers and the like can be mentioned. Alternatively, a method in which the filter fiber impregnated with tryptophan is freeze-dried, supported on the filter fiber, and used as it is may be mentioned. However, the inclusion method is not limited as long as the filter can contain the radical scavenger by any method other than these methods and can obtain the effect of the present invention.

Further, the radical scavenger contained in the filter of the present invention is preferably finely dispersed because the radical scavenging effect is better.

Therefore, the most preferable method of incorporating the radical scavenger into the filter is to carry the radical scavenger on activated carbon and disperse the activated carbon, and then fill the activated carbon between the filters.

Further, the larger the amount of radical scavenger contained in the filter of the present invention, the greater the radical scavenging effect of cigarettes,
If it is too large, the pressure loss of the filter becomes large. Therefore, when it is used as a filter for a cigarette with a filter, an amount of 50 mg or less is sufficient for one cigarette.

Examples Hereinafter, the filter of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to Examples.

For detailed device drawings, refer to, for example, Shozo Tamura, Safety Engineering, 1985, 11 (4), 13-16.

Example 1 300 mg of tryptophan having a particle size of 1000 μm or less was put into a glass tube having a length of 5 cm, both ends thereof were stopped with glass wool, and a commercially available cigarette (trade name is Mild Seven) was directly attached to one of the glass tubes. It was The other end of the glass tube was connected to an absorption tank containing a spin trap agent (benzene solution of N-ter-butyl-α-phenylnitrone) through a filter for removing tar and nicotine, and the absorption tank and aspirator were also connected. Was connected so that the cigarette smoke could be sucked into the absorbing solution by an aspirator.

Then, ignite the cigarette under normal smoking conditions to burn the cigarette and continuously inhale the cigarette smoke with an aspirator.
Introduced into the absorbent for minutes.

The spin adduct in this absorbent was measured by ESR, and its peak height was compared with the case where the radical scavenger (tryptophan) was not used (glass wool etc. was used as it was), that is, its reduction rate, The radical removal rate was 5%.

Examples 2 to 7 A radical scavenging test was carried out in the same manner as in Example 1 by changing the radical scavenger and the amount thereof used as shown in Table 1. The results are shown in Table 1 together with Example 1.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-58-146270 (JP, A) JP-A-50-84478 (JP, A) JP-B-49-7239 (JP, B2)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cigarette combustion gas filter containing at least one compound selected from the group consisting of tryptophan, glutathione, L-cysteine, N-acetylcysteine, tyrosine, arginine and oxyglutamic acid.