[' ', 'To', 'begin', 'the', 'validation', 'process,', 'we', 'suggest', 'that', 'the', 'Massachusetts', 'Department', 'of', 'Public', 'Health', 'establish', 'a', 'steering', 'committee', 'that', 'includes', 'scientists', 'with', 'knowledge,', 'experience', 'and', 'expertise', 'in', 'the', 'measurement', 'of', 'tobacco', 'and', 'tobacco', 'smoke.', 'At', 'a', 'minimum,', 'such', 'a', 'committee', 'should', 'include', 'members', 'of', 'the', 'DPH', 'and', 'at', 'least', 'one', 'scientist', 'representing', 'each', 'of', 'the', 'cigarette', 'manufacturers.', 'In', 'addition,', 'the', 'DPH', 'may', 'wish', 'to', 'include', 'an', 'independent', 'scientific', 'consultant', 'who', 'Is', 'well', 'versed', 'in', 'the', 'technical', 'issues', 'and', 'problems', 'associated', 'with', 'testing', 'of', 'this', 'type.', 'It', 'is', 'also', 'possible', 'that', 'the', 'cigarette', 'manufacturers', 'may', 'suggest', 'that', 'the', 'committee', 'include', 'a', 'representative', 'of', 'the', 'Tobacco', 'Institute', 'Testing', 'Laboratory.', ' ', 'Once', 'that', 'steering', 'committee', 'is', 'established,', 'the', 'committee', 'can', 'also', 'be', 'used', 'to', 'determine', 'the', 'numerical', 'multiplier', 'that', 'will', 'be', 'used', 'to', 'approximate', 'the', 'ratings', 'for', 'nicotine', 'delivery', 'under', 'the', 'specified', 'smoking', 'conditions', 'pursuant', 'to', '660.102(B)6).', 'R.J.', 'Reynolds', 'is', 'willing', 'to', 'provide', 'any', 'assistance', 'we', 'can', 'in', 'facilitating', 'the', 'establishment', 'of', 'this', 'steering', 'committee', 'and', 'the', 'development', 'and', 'implementation', 'of', 'a', 'process', 'to', 'validate', 'the', 'methods.', '|', 'also', 'want', 'to', 'apprise', 'you', 'of', 'an', 'interesting', '(and', 'troubling)', 'RJR', 'finding', 'regarding', '“smoke', 'pH"', 'measurements.', 'RJR’s', 'tests', 'of', '“smoke', 'pH”', 'included', 'both', 'a)', 'tests', 'of', 'cigarette', 'smoke;', 'and', 'b)', 'tests', 'of', 'blanks', '(room', 'air).', 'The', 'testing', 'instructions', 'prescribed', 'in', 'the', 'regulation', 'involve', 'drawing', 'cigarette', 'smoke', 'through', 'water', 'to', 'create', 'a', '“solution.”', '(In', 'the', 'case', 'of', 'blanks,', 'room', 'air', 'was', 'drawn', 'through', 'water.)', 'After', 'smoking,', '“smoke', 'pH"', 'is', 'determined', 'by', 'measuring', 'the', 'pH', 'of', 'the', 'solution', 'with', 'an', 'electrode.', 'Results', 'from', 'our', 'work', 'indicated', 'that', 'the', '“pH', 'results”', 'for', 'the', 'cigarette', 'smoke', 'tested', 'were', 'in', 'the', 'same', 'range', 'as', 'that', 'for', 'the', 'blanks.', 'This', 'raises', 'serious', 'questions', 'about', 'the', 'meaning', 'of', '“smoke', 'pH”', 'data', 'in', 'general,', 'and', 'the', 'significance,', 'if', 'any,', 'of', 'the', '“smoke', 'pH"', 'data', 'included', 'in', 'this', 'report.', 'If', 'you', 'have', 'any', 'questions', 'or', 'comments', 'about', 'our', '“smoke', 'pH”', 'finding', 'or', 'any', 'of', 'the', 'results', 'reported,', 'please', 'feel', 'free', 'to', 'give', 'me', 'a', 'call.', 'We', 'are', 'happy', 'to', 'meet', 'with', 'you', 'at', 'your', 'offices', 'at', 'a', 'time', 'of', 'your', 'choosing', 'to', 'discuss', 'the', 'comparative', 'analysis', 'of', 'the', 'two', 'data', 'sets', 'that', 'are', 'provided', 'with', 'this', 'letter.', 'My', 'colleagues', 'and', '|', 'look', 'forward', 'to', 'working', 'with', 'you', 'as', 'this', 'project', 'progresses.', 'Sincerely', 'yours,', 'v/', 'Michael', 'F.', 'Borgerding,', 'Ph.D.', 'LUTZ', 'B66TS', 'Page', '5', ' ']