Dan Jaffe, Dale Griffin and Janet Ricker

According to the Surgeon General smoking is the number one preventable cause of death in the United States. In the United States alone:

• Approximately 400,000 people die from smoking related illnesses each year;
• The average smoker starts by age 15;
• 3000 teenagers per day start to smoke;
• By age 6 more than 90% of all children can identify "Joe Camel".

To combat these horrendous statistics we have developed 3 scientific lab exercises suitable for students in juinor and senior high school. These lab experiments use relatively "low-tech" equipment which is likely available in secondary science labs or can be purchased at low cost. The three experiments are:

0. Quantitative determination of the mass of tar of different cigarette types;
1. Qualitative determination of the carbon monoxide content of cigarette smoke; and,
2. Quantitative comparison of the carbon monoxide concentration of car exhaust and cigarette smoke.

 Internet resources on smoking:

FDA home page on Children and Tobacco:

EPA home page on Indoor Air Quality and Secondhand Smoke: