Chapter 2 
Review of the Federal Xrade Gommission 
IVlethod for Determining Cigarette Xar and 
Nicotine Yield 
Harold C. Pillsbury, Jr.^ 
The "Federal Trade Commission (Commission or FTC) method" is the 
methodology that the Commission adopted almost 30 years ago for testing 
cigarettes. This methodology is still used today by the Tobacco Institute 
Testing Laboratory (TITL), with some minor modifications. The FTC method 
determines the relative yield of individual cigarettes by smoking them in a 
standardized fashion, according to a predetermined protocol, on a smoking 
machine. The FTC test method was based on the "Cambridge Filter method" 
developed by Ogg (1964), which called for 2-second, 35-mL puffs to be taken 
until a 23-mm butt length remained on the cigarette. More about how these 
parameters were selected is presented below. 
For the testing procedure, as implemented initially by the FTC's cigarette 
testing laboratory and currently by TITL, cigarettes are collected by an 
independent firm that purchases two packages of each cigarette variety^ 
in each of 50 locations throughout the United States. (If some varieties 
or brands are not available in certain locations, additional packs will be 
purchased in locations where they are available.) They are mailed to the 
testing laboratory; the postmark serves as verification that they were 
purchased in different locations. Individual cigarettes to be tested are 
selected on a random basis, two from each pack. Before being smoked, 
the cigarettes are "conditioned" by being placed on storage trays in a room 
maintained at 75 °F and 60 percent relative humidity for not less than 
24 hours. 
The machine used in the Commission's laboratory had 20 "ports" 
(openings); the smoking machine currently used by TITL also has 20 ports. 
Each opening is fitted with a filter holder, into which a cigarette is inserted 
for smoking, and a filter pad, on which particulate matter from the cigarette 
smoke is collected. Gases pass through the pad and are collected in specially 
designed plastic bags. 
' These remarks are the views of the staff of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. They do not necessarily 
represent the view of the Commission or any individual commissioner. 
^ A particular brand of cigarettes may have more than a dozen varieties, depending on whether it is available 
in different lengths, in regular and menthol flavors, in hard and soft packaging, and in regular, light, and 
ultralight versions. For example, the Commission's 1994 tar and nicotine report lists 20 varieties of Marlboro. 
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