Table 2. Least-square means of five tobacco-specific N’-nitrosamines in snus categorized by region and product type.
| Comparison | Products | NAT | NAB | NNN | NNK | NNAL | NNN+NNK | Total TSNAs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ng/g, wet; n = 3 d | |||||||||
| A | NORTHERN EUROPEAN SNUS Portion (Standard) | LS-mean (SE) a | 405 (136) | 41.9 (11.4) | 619 (105) | 173 (41.6) | 24.2 (4.17) | 792 (129) | 1260 (241) |
| (n = 33) | LS Difference (SE) b | Ref. Ae | Ref.A | Ref.A | Ref.A | Ref.A | Ref.A | Ref.A | |
| Difference, p-Value | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Range c | 145–741 | 7.82–157 | 251–1040 | 50.7–431 | 7.09–52.3 | 316–1250 | 501–2060 | ||
| Loose (Standard) | LS-mean (SE) | 299 (157) | 26.9 (12.2) | 464 (131) | 109 (56.1) | 18.3 (4.63) | 566 (166) | 918 (300) | |
| (n = 6) | LS Difference (SE) | -106 (89.5) | -15.1 (4.86) | -155 (89.7) | -64.2 (42.9) | -6.12 (2.37) | -192 (122) | -344 (203) | |
| Difference, p-Value | 0.2425 | 0.0032 | 0.0894 | 0.1408 | 0.0126 | 0.8496 | 0.0965 | ||
| Range | 80.3–606 | 6.18–51.6 | 193–823 | 45.1–172 | 4.88–25.5 | 244–987 | 390–1660 | ||
| Portion (Strong) | LS-mean (SE) | 733 (144) | 47.5 f (11.8) | 714 (115) | 311 (47.4) | 24.1 (4.32) | 1030 (142) | 1820 (264) | |
| (n = 16) | LS Difference (SE) | 328 (71.3) | 5.57 (4.13) | 94.4 (71.3) | 138 (34.1) | -0.302 (1.89) | 233 (89.6) | 561 (162) | |
| Difference, p-Value | < .0001 | 0.1820 | 0.1912 | 0.0002 | 0.8738 | 0.0118 | 0.0010 | ||
| Range | 275–2210 | 9.61–92.1 | 49.5–1930 | 41.9–696 | 3.88–40.0 | 403–2600 | 758–4910 | ||
| US SNUS | |||||||||
| Portion (Standard) | LS-mean (SE) | 804 (214) | 62.9 (17.7) | 1050 (168) | 321 (68.1) | 23.1 (6.46) | 1360 (207) | 2220 (386) | |
| (n = 8) | LS Difference (SE) | 399 (254) | 21.0 (21.1) | 428 (198) | 148 (79.8) | -1.35 (7.67) | 569 (244) | 958 (455) | |
| Difference, p-Value | 0.1615 | 0.3478 | 0.0628 | 0.0933 | 0.8650 | 0.0445 | 0.0699 | ||
| Range | 349–1820 | 18.6–109 | 502–1600 | 145–572 | 9.44–46.1 | 695–1840 | 1140–3720 | ||
| B | NORTHERN EUROPEAN SNUS | ||||||||
| Portion (White) | LS-mean (SE) | 545 (142) | 44.1 g (11.7) | 618 (112) | 276 (46.0) | 25.3 (4.27) | 894 (139) | 1510 (258) | |
| (n = 28) | LS Difference (SE) | Ref.Be | Ref.B | Ref.B | Ref.B | Ref.B | Ref.B | Ref.B | |
| Difference, p-Value | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Range | 145–614 | 7.82–157 | 49.5–915 | 50.7–518 | 4.09–52.3 | 316–1200 | 501–1860 | ||
| Portion (Original) | LS-mean (SE) | 593 (139) | 45.4 h (11.6) | 715 (109) | 208 (43.8) | 23.2 (4.21) | 923 (134) | 1580 (250) | |
| (n = 21) | LS Difference (SE) | 48.3 (74.8) | 1.29 (4.29) | 97.3 (74.7) | -68 (35.6) | -2.13 (1.98) | 28.3 (93.9) | 75 (170) | |
| Difference, p-Value | 0.5206 | 0.7598 | 0.1983 | 0.0616 | 0.2869 | 0.7649 | 0.6603 | ||
| Range | 184–2210 | 9.10–98.1 | 300–1930 | 41.9–696 | 3.88–42.2 | 358–2600 | 574–4910 | ||
| C | NORTHERN EUROPEAN SNUS | ||||||||
| Portion (All) | LS-mean (SE) | 569 (136) | 44.7 f(11.4) | 666 (104) | 242 (41.2) | 24.3 (4.12) | 909 (128) | 1540 (239) | |
| (n = 49) | LS Difference (SE) | Ref.Ce | Ref.C | Ref.C | Ref.C | Ref.C | Ref.C | Ref.C | |
| Difference, p-Value | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Range | 145–2210 | 7.82–157 | 49.5–1930 | 41.9–696 | 3.88–52.3 | 316–2600 | 501–4910 | ||
| Loose (All) i | LS-mean (SE) | 463 (160) | 29.7 (12.3) | 511 (134) | 178 (58.0) | 18.2 (4.70) | 690 (167) | 1200 (308) | |
| (n = 7) | LS Difference (SE) | -106 (89.5) | -15.1 (4.86) | -155 (89.7) | -64.2 (42.9) | -6.12 (2.37) | -219 (113) | -344 (203) | |
| Difference, p-Value | 0.2425 | 0.0032 | 0.0894 | 0.1408 | 0.0126 | 0.0575 | 0.0965 | ||
| Range | 80.3–606 | 6.18–51.6 | 193–823 | 37.4–172 | 3.14–25.5 | 244–987 | 390–1660 | ||
| US SNUS | |||||||||
| Portion (All) | LS-mean (SE) | 804 (214) | 62.9 (17.8) | 1050 (168) | 321 (68.1) | 23.1 (6.46) | 1360 (207) | 2220 (386) | |
| (n = 8) | LS Difference (SE) | 259 (254) | 19.0 (21.2) | 428 (198) | 148 (79.8) | -1.35 (7.67) | 569 (244) | 958 (455) | |
| Difference, p-Value | 1.0000 | 1.0000 | 0.0628 | 0.0933 | 0.8650 | 0.0445 | 0.0699 | ||
| Range | 349–1820 | 18.6–109 | 502–1600 | 145–572 | 9.44–46.1 | 695–1840 | 1140–3720 | ||
| D | NORTHERN EUROPEAN SNUS | ||||||||
| All (Portion and Loose) | LS-mean (SE) | 534 (138) | 39.7 f (11.5) | 615 (107) | 220 (42.9) | 22.2 (4.18) | 836 (132) | 1430 (246) | |
| (n = 56) | LS Difference (SE) | Ref.De | Ref.D | Ref.D | Ref.D | Ref.D | Ref.D | Ref.D | |
| Difference, p-Value | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Range | 80.3–2210 | 6.18–157 | 49.5–1930 | 37.4–696 | 3.14–52.3 | 244–2600 | 390–4910 | ||
| US SNUS | |||||||||
| All (Portion) | LS-mean (SE) | 804 (214) | 62.9 (17.7) | 1050 (168) | 321 (68.1) | 23.1 (6.46) | 1360 (207) | 2220 (386) | |
| (n = 8) | LS Difference (SE) | 270 (255) | 23.2 (21.1) | 432 (199) | 101 (80.5) | 0.840 (7.70) | 525 (246) | 793 (458) | |
| Difference, p-Value | 0.3260 | 0.3024 | 0.0613 | 0.2392 | 0.9145 | 0.0605 | 0.1229 | ||
| Range | 349–1820 | 18.6–109 | 502–1600 | 145–572 | 9.44–46.1 | 695–1840 | 1140–3720 | ||
Table 2. Differences in means are evaluated in four comparisons with: A) Northern European portion standard snus; B) Northern European portion white snus; C) Northern European portion snus; and D) Northern European portion and loose snus.
Note.
a LS-mean (SE). Least-square mean (standard error). Means, standard errors, and differences are least-square estimates from mixed effects models.
b Difference in least-square means.
c Range. These levels were identified among all replicate measurements for the region and snus product category.
d n = 3 for each snus product for measurement of NAT, NAB, NNN, NNK, and NNAL. Means, standard errors, and differences are least-square estimates from mixed effects models of 10,000 bootstrap resamples of the data.
e Ref., reference product. The least-square mean of this product was subtracted from other product types in each category to compute the difference. Ref.A is Northern Europe Portion Standard. Ref.B is Northern Europe Portion White. Ref.C is Northern Europe Portion. Ref.D is Northern Europe All.
f NAB levels were non-detected in three products.
g One product had non-detected NAB levels.
h Two products had non-detected NAB levels.
i Loose (All) includes 1 product labeled with a “strong” descriptor and 6 products with “standard” descriptors.