Cadmium and nickel in smoke of cigarettes prepared from tobacco cultured on municipal sludge-amended soil.

Cigarettes prepared from tobacco grown on municipal sludge-amended soil were smoked, and the mainstream particulates and gaseous fractions were analyzed for total cadmium and nickel content. Sludge-grown and control (soil-grown) tobaccos contained, respectively, 67.4 and 3.18 ppm of cadmium and 19.4 and 1.29 ppm of nickel. The quantities of cadmium (microgram per cigarette) found in the mainstream particulate and gaseous fractions were, respectively, 6.67 and 0.04 for the sludge-grown and 0.21 and 0.03 for the control treatments. The quantities of nickel (microgram per cigarette) found in the mainstream particulates and gaseous fractions were, respectively, 0.11 and 0.07 for the sludge-grown and 0.01 and 0.01 for the control treatments. The potential public health implications of these results and modifying factors are discussed.