10.12 Cigarette and Tobacco Smoke

Category 766

10.12.1 Introduction

Category 766 accounts for emissions from tobacco smoking, particularly from cigarettes, cigars, and pipes. Mainstream smoke (MS), which is generated during puffs, is generally inhaled by the smoker and a small fraction is exhaled. Sidestream smoke (SS), or the smoke issued from the product between puffs, is viewed as the most important emissions. Burning cigarettes may include total particulate matter, nicotine, phenol, CO2, CO, NOx, NH3, hydrogen cyanide, and formaldehyde.

10.12.2 Methodology

Category 766 is considered an area source category since it covers facilities / emission sources that are not directly permitted by the District, and hence not systematically cataloged. Emissions for area source categories are determined using the formula:

Current Year Emissions = Base Year Emission X Growth Profile, and,

Base Year Emission = Throughput X Control Factor X Emission Factor

where,

  • throughput or activity data for applicable base year(s) is determined using a top-down approach (e.g. state-, national-level data);
  • emission factor is derived from general literature, specific literature and reports, and/or source testing results provided by Air District staff;
  • control factor (if applicable) is determined by District and state rules and regulations in effect;
  • and, historical backcasting and forecasting of emissions is based on growth profiles as outlined in the Trends section of this chapter

More details on throughput, county distribution, emission factors and controls is provided in the following subsections. Cigarette consumption was based on a report from Atmospheric Environment Journal, Vol. 21, No. 2, “Measuring Environmental Emissions from Tobacco Combustion: Sidestream Cigarette Smoke Literature Review”, by M.R. Guerin, Higgens, & Senkins475.

(a) Activity Data / Throughput

Recent findings indicated an offsetting change related to the age demographics within the smoking population. While there was a decrease in adult smokers, the increased number of young smokers spiked higher. As a result, there are an estimated 754,970 cigarette smokers (approximately 10.4% of the Bay Area population) contributing to cigarette consumption.

The cigarette consumption (61% of the smokers smoked less than a pack of cigarettes, 32% smoked one pack, 7% smoked two packs per day, 20 cigarettes/pack) is estimated as followed: \(754,970 \times ((61\% \times 0.5) + (32\% \times 1) + (7\% \times 2)) \times 20 = 11,551,043\) cigarettes/day (or 4,318 tons cigarettes per year). It is assumed that additional 216 tons (5 percent of 4,318 tons cigarettes) from other tobacco products. The annual throughput for this base year inventory for Cigarette and Tobacco Smoke is 4,534 tons.

(b) County Distribution / Fractions

California Association of Bay Area Governments County population476, California Department of Public Health report 477, 2016 California Tobacco Facts and Figures 478 were used to distribute emissions for each county.

(c) Emission Factors

Emission factors were based on the Table 1 (Reported emissions and emissions calculated from sidestream (SS) to mainstream (MS) ratios) of the “Measuring Environmental Emissions from Tobacco Combustion: Sidestream Cigarette Smoke Literature Review” report.

  • PM: 81.86 lbs/ton cigarettes
  • TOG: 6.02 lbs/ton cigarettes
  • NOx: 3.85 lbs/ton cigarettes
  • CO: 71.18 lbs/ton cigarettes

(d) Control Factors

There are no specific CARB regulations to control emissions from Cigarette and Tobacco Smoke.

(e) Speciation

The total organic gas (TOG) emissions from Cigarette and Tobacco Smoke category are considered all reactive organic gas(ROG). The ROG:TOG ratio is equal to 1.

For PM speciation, particle size distribution is shown below:

Size Fraction of Total Particulate (TSP)
10 micron 0.88
2.5 micron 0.85

10.12.3 Changes in Methodology

No major changes in methodology were made in this version of the base year emissions inventory.

10.12.4 Emissions

A summary of emissions by category, county, and year are available via the associated data dashboard for this inventory publication.

10.12.6 Uncertainties

The population estimates for Solano and Sonoma counties may contribute to an increased uncertainty of the Bay Area cigarette consumption for Base Year emission inventory.

10.12.7 Contact

Author: Michael Nguyen

Reviewer: Ariana Husain

Last Update: November 06, 2023

10.12.8 References & Footnotes

  1. Atmospheric Environment Journal. 1987. Measuring Environmental Emissions from Tobacco Combustion: Sidestream Cigarette Smoke Literature Review. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0004698187900047↩︎

  2. Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). 2019. Plan Bay Area 2040. http://2040.planbayarea.org/reports↩︎

  3. SF Examiner news. 2010. Anti-tobacco pioneer SF home to many smokers. https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/anti-tobacco-pioneer-sf-home-to-many-smokers/↩︎

  4. California Department of Public Health. 2016. California Tobacco Facts and Figures. https://tobaccofreeca.com/tobacco-industry/2016-california-tobacco-facts-and-figures/↩︎