TRACE-METAL CHARACTERIZATION OF SOME STANDARD SMOKELESS TOBACCOS

Chemical forms of Cd, Cu, Ni, and Zn in standard types of chewing tobacco, and both moist and dry snuff were characterized by determining the differential solubility patterns for the trace metals as a function of chelating agent extractant, nature of ionic charge of the trace metal constituents, and the proportion of soluble trace metals which were chelatable and non-chelatable. Different discrete chemical forms of the trace metals were determined and were a function of the trace metal and of the type of standard tobacco. These chemical forms may show a more reliable relationship to toxicological assays of smokeless tobacco than the total amount of the metal present in the tobacco.