BOSTON (AP) – The nation’s largest cigarette maker is disputing a study by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health that found nicotine in cigarettes has risen about 10 percent in the past six years.

Philip Morris USA, which manufactures Marlboro cigarettes, said it found fluctuations up and down in nicotine levels, but not a steady increase, after a review of nine years of data they have provided to Massachusetts about their cigarettes.

“There are variations in the nicotine yield for different Marlboro packings, both up and down from year-to-year, but there is no general trend up or down,” the company said in a written response.

The health department study released last month examined nicotine levels in more than 100 brands over a six-year period. The study showed a steady climb in the amount of nicotine delivered to the lungs of smokers regardless of brand, with overall nicotine yields increasing by about 10 percent, according to state health officials.

The study also found the three most popular cigarette brands with young smokers – Marlboro, Newport and Camel – delivered significantly more nicotine than they did years ago.

Massachusetts is one of three states to require tobacco companies to submit information about nicotine testing according to its specifications and the only state with data going back to 1997.

Philip Morris said when it looked at all the data they sent to the state there were only year-to-year variations that “occur as part of the normal processes of growing tobacco and manufacturing cigarettes.”

Donna Rheaume, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Health, defended the report, which concluded that the higher nicotine levels made it easier to get hooked on cigarettes and harder to quit.

“We stand by our study which was based on data supplied by the tobacco companies,” Rheaume said.

Philip Morris also said the use of machines to determine nicotine level is flawed, saying other health organizations have argued against the practice. Massachusetts health officials say the machine method used in the Massachusetts report closely mimics the way real smokers use cigarettes.

Philip Morris spokesman Michael Neese said Monday the information the cigarette company used not only looked back over all nine years of data sent to the Department of Public Health, but included 2005 data which was delivered to the health department in November and showed a slight decline in nicotine levels in Marlboro cigarettes.

“We do not believe the conclusions about the trends in nicotine yields in Marlboro cigarettes are supported by the 1997 to 2005 data that Philip Morris submitted to the Department of Public Health,” he said.

Asked if Philip Morris was adding nicotine to their cigarettes, Neese said, “No comment.”

U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler last month ruled that the nation’s top cigarette makers violated racketeering laws, deceived the public for years about the health hazards of smoking, and manipulated nicotine levels.

“They distorted the truth about low tar and light cigarettes so as to discourage smokers from quitting,” Kessler wrote in the ruling. “They suppressed research. They destroyed documents. They manipulated the use of nicotine so as to increase and perpetuate addiction.”

Kessler ordered the companies to stop using terms such as “light” on their products and to publish in newspapers and on their Web sites “corrective statements” on the adverse health effects and addictiveness of smoking and nicotine.

Top tobacco companies have asked Kessler to put the landmark judgment on hold and let them keep selling “light” and “low tar” cigarettes until they’ve had a chance to appeal.

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On the Net:

Philip Morris USA: www.philipmorrrisusa.com.

Massachusetts Department of Public Health: http://www.mass.gov/dph/