JPH0731452A - Cigarrete filter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a cigarette filter capable of effectively adsorbing and collecting harmful components in tobacco smoke such as nicotine tar and aldehyde and easily decomposable by the action of small animals and bacteria when disposed in natural environment and, accordingly, free from environmental pollution. CONSTITUTION:This cigarette filter contains 5-100wt.% of chitin or chitosan.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improved tobacco filter for removing harmful components in tobacco smoke.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the harmful theory of tobacco has become a big problem, and in order to reduce the harmful components in cigarette smoke,
A fibrous filter (the one in which cellulose acetate is made into a fibrous state and fibers are partially welded into a rod-like shape is most often used) is used.

[0003]

The above conventional fiber filter mainly collects nicotine and tar components, but its collection effect is low and aldehydes such as acrolein are not collected by adsorption. As a method of adsorbing and collecting nicotine / tar components and harmful aldehydes, the adsorbability of activated carbon is used to add activated carbon powder to fibers or paper, or granular activated carbon is directly made into a cylindrical body made of paper. There is one in which an acetate filter is wrapped around the mouthpiece. However, even in the above-mentioned filter using activated carbon, the trapping effect is still unsatisfactory. On the other hand, in recent years, many smokers often see the filter part dumped in the natural world after smoking, even though environmental pollution has become a serious problem. In this case, the conventional fibrous filter containing acetate as a main component does not have biodegradability, and thus may have polluted the natural environment. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above problems and to provide a tobacco filter that effectively adsorbs and collects harmful components such as nicotine tar and aldehydes in tobacco smoke without reducing the taste. . Another object of the present invention is to provide a biodegradable tobacco filter which is easily decomposed by the action of small animals and bacteria even if it is dumped in nature.

[0004]

The present invention provides a cigarette filter characterized by containing 5 to 100% by weight of chitin or chitosan. The chitin of the present invention means that N-acetyl-D-glucosamine residue is β-
It is a polysaccharide formed by (1,4) -bonding, and its deacetylated product is called chitosan. However, chitin usually lacks some acetyl groups, while chitosan usually also contains some acetyl groups. Therefore, there is no clear boundary between chitin and chitosan, and the chitin or chitosan of the present invention will be referred to as “chitin.
I will call it "chitosan". Any deacetylation degree of the chitin / chitosan of the present invention can be used for the present invention, but if the deacetylation degree is too low, the collection rate of aldehydes such as acrolein will be low and the deacetylation degree will be low. If the degree is too high, the taste tends to be impaired, so it is preferably 5 to 100%, more preferably 10 to 90%. The molecular weight of the chitin / chitosan of the present invention can be any one of which can be used in the present invention.
The weight average molecular weight is 5 to 5,000,000, and more preferably,
It is 5,000 to 5,000,000. The chitin / chitosan of the present invention includes, for example, carboxylic acids such as acetic acid, succinic acid, benzoic acid, phthalic acid, tartaric acid, malic acid and citric acid, amino acids such as glycine, glutamic acid and phenylalanine.
A salt may be formed with an inorganic acid such as phosphoric acid or boric acid, or a partial ester of an organic or inorganic polyvalent acid. It is also possible to control the amount of free amino groups in chitin / chitosan by forming a salt with these acids.
Further, the chitin / chitosan of the present invention may form a complex with a metal ion such as calcium or magnesium. The chitin / chitosan of the present invention may be used alone, and may be, for example, silica, alumina, aluminosilicate, zirconia, activated carbon, rayon, cotton,
It may be used by mixing it with powders or fibers of cellulose such as wood pulp, proteins such as starch, gelatin and casein, or synthetic resins such as cellulose acetate, polyethylene, polyester and nylon. In this case, from the viewpoint of biodegradability, for example, silica, alumina, aluminosilicate, zirconia, cellulose such as rayon, cotton, wood pulp, starch, or protein such as gelatin and casein is more preferable. The term “mixing” as used herein may be simply a mixture of two components or a mixture of components, or a mixture of the components to be used as a polymer alloy. The content of chitin / chitosan in the mixture is 5 to 100% by weight, preferably 20 to 100% by weight, and more preferably 50 to 100% by weight.
If it is less than wt%, the effect is insufficient. Further, the chitin / chitosan of the present invention is a chitin / chitosan solution, for example,
Silica, alumina, aluminosilicate, zirconia,
Activated charcoal or protein such as cellulose such as rayon, cotton and wood pulp, protein such as starch, gelatin and casein, or powder or fiber such as synthetic resin such as cellulose acetate, polyethylene, polyester, nylon, etc. is impregnated and dried. You may use it. From the viewpoint of biodegradability, the substrate is more preferably silica, alumina, aluminosilicate, zirconia, cellulose such as rayon, cotton, wood pulp, starch, or protein such as gelatin or casein.
The content of chitin / chitosan after impregnation and drying is 5% by weight or more, preferably 5 to 50% by weight. In this case, 5
If the amount is less than 50% by weight, the effect is insufficient, and 50% by weight
With the above, impregnation becomes difficult. The tobacco filter of the present invention may be used alone or in combination with another filter to form a multilayer structure. Other filters include, for example, silica, alumina, aluminosilicate, zirconia, activated carbon, cellulose such as rayon, cotton, wood pulp, proteins such as starch, gelatin, casein, cellulose acetate, polyethylene, polyester, nylon, etc. From the viewpoint of biodegradability, for example, silica, alumina, aluminosilicate,
Those made of zirconia, cellulose such as rayon, cotton and wood pulp, starch, or proteins such as gelatin and casein are more preferable. Such a cigarette filter of the present invention can be used as a filter integrally combined with a cigarette, but it can also be used by attaching it inside a pipe or the like, and an adsorbent made of paper or resin. It can also be used as a disposable pipe type filter by mounting it inside the mouthpiece.

[0005]

EXAMPLES Next, examples of the present invention will be described, but the present invention is not limited to the following examples. Regarding the nicotine, tar and acrolein described in the following examples and comparative examples, the samples of each example and comparative example were smoked at a flow rate of 5 ml / sec and a smoking length of 50 mm, and the smoke after passing through the filter was acetonitrile. Extracted in
Quantitative analysis was performed using HPLC. The collection rate of each component of nicotine, tar and acrolein

[Equation 1] Was calculated using. For the biodegradability described in the following examples and comparative examples, for the samples of each example and comparative example,

[Equation 2] Was calculated using. (Comparative Example 1) A commercially available highlight (using 100 mg of cellulose acetate filter) was used as a sample of Comparative Example 1.
The results of collection rate and biodegradability of nicotine, tar and acrolein

[Table 1] Shown in. (Example 1) A fibrous chitin / chitosan (deacetylation degree of 10%) 100 mg was filled in a paper tube to form a filter chip, and a commercially available highlight cigarette part was connected to the filter chip.
The sample of Example 1 was used. The results of collection rate and biodegradability of nicotine, tar and acrolein

It shows in [Table 1]. (Example 2) 100 mg of fibrous chitin / chitosan (deacetylation degree of 50%) was filled in a paper tube to form a filter chip, and a cigarette part of a commercially available highlight was connected to the filter chip.
The sample of Example 2 was used. The results of collection rate and biodegradability of nicotine, tar and acrolein

It shows in [Table 1]. (Example 3) Chitin powder (30-40 mesh)
Chitosan (80% deacetylation degree) 80 mg is filled in a paper cylinder, and both sides of the paper cylinder are covered with 10 mg each of cotton non-woven fabric (Nisshinbo Oycos) to form a filter chip, and a commercially available highlight cigarette The parts were connected to obtain a sample of Example 3. The results of collection rate and biodegradability of nicotine, tar and acrolein

It shows in [Table 1]. (Example 4) Chitin powder (30 to 40 mesh)
A paper cylinder was filled with 50 mg of chitosan (90% deacetylation degree), and a filter chip was formed by filling each side with 25 mg of a commercially available highlight filter part cut into quarters. A commercially available highlight cigarette portion was connected to this, and the sample of Example 4 was obtained. The results of collection rate and biodegradability of nicotine, tar and acrolein

It shows in [Table 1]. (Example 5) 80 mg of absorbent cotton is dipped in a 1% aqueous solution of chitin / chitosan (deacetylation degree: 50%) and then vacuum dried. Thus, 100 mg of absorbent cotton impregnated with 20 mg of chitin / chitosan was filled in a paper tube to form a filter chip, and a commercially available highlight cigarette part was connected to the paper chip to obtain a sample of Example 5. The results of collection rate and biodegradability of nicotine, tar and acrolein

It shows in [Table 1].

As is clear from Table 1, the tobacco filters of Examples 1 to 5 effectively collect nicotine, tar and acrolein, and have high biodegradability. The remarkable effect of collecting acrolein is probably because acrolein chemically reacts with a free amino group of chitin / chitosan to form an imine compound. The tastes of the samples of Examples 1 to 5 were examined by a sensory test, and none of them was inferior to Comparative Example 1.

[0006]

The cigarette filter of the present invention effectively adsorbs and collects harmful components such as nicotine tar and aldehydes in cigarette smoke without lowering the taste. Also, it has biodegradability that is easily decomposed by the action of small animals and bacteria even if it is discarded in the natural world.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Chitin or chitosan 5 to 100% by weight
A tobacco filter characterized by containing.