By Terry Martin Medically reviewed by Sanja Jelic, MD

In April of 1994, a master list of 599 additives used in the production of American cigarettes was made public, with five major tobacco companies reporting

Up to that time, the constituents of cigarettes were unknown to anyone but the companies producing them. Today, while many questions still remain, researchers have uncovered plenty of useful information about the additives in cigarettes, and it all started with that list.

For the most part, cigarette manufacturers maintain that their additives add flavor, act as a humectant or are used as a “processing aid”, as in this list of additives from Philip Morris. Science shows us that much more is going on, however.

Researchers Michael Rabinoff, DO, PhD, Nicholas Caskey, PhD, Anthony Rissling, MA, and Candice Park, BS reviewed publicly available tobacco industry documents, the list of 599 additives and other sources.

The findings: More than 100 of them have qualities that may either enhance addiction or mask the negative effects of cigarettes.

Whether the additional properties of tobacco additives were “designed” into commercial cigarettes by Big Tobacco is unproven, but researchers all agree that strict regulatory control over tobacco additives is of vital importance.

The Effects of Cigarette Additives

• Dilate the airways, allowing the smoker to inhale more deeply and deposit higher levels of tar in the lungs. Cocoa is an additive known to do this.
• Addictive potential of their own or synergistically with nicotine.
• Slow the metabolism of nicotine, increasing smoker’s exposure.
• Anesthetic properties that decrease the harshness of tobacco smoke on the throat.
• Mask smell, visibility, and irritation of environmental tobacco smoke.
• Disguise warning symptoms of illnesses associated with cigarette smoking.

Common Tobacco Additives

Tobacco documents show that cigarette companies have investigated ways to develop cigarettes that will hook the user more quickly and thoroughly to nicotine, researching everything from enhancing the nicotine in cigarettes through genetically engineered tobacco plants to developing nicotine extracts and using sheet tobacco as an additive in the manufacturing process.

A Long List of Cigarette Ingredients

Ammonia

Ammonia added to cigarettes reacts with nicotine in a process call free-basing. The result is a bigger nicotine kick for the smoker.What Does Ammonia in Cigarettes Do?

Menthol

Derived from mint oils, menthol is another additive thought to play a significant role in favorably introducing young people to cigarettes. Menthol is a mild local anesthetic, and when added to cigarettes can ease throat irritation caused by cigarette smoke.

Eugenol is another additive that is used as a numbing agent for the harsh qualities of cigarette smoke.Are Clove Cigarettes a Healthy Way to Smoke?

Acetaldehyde

Acetaldehyde is formed when cigarette ingredients and additives, including sugars are burned. Animal research conducted by Philip Morris showed a synergistic effect between acetaldehyde and nicotine. Rats pressed a bar more for the combination of the two chemicals than for either one alone.

If the data were generalized to humans, it would relate to increased puffs on a cigarette due to the synergistic effect of nicotine and acetaldehyde in tobacco smoke.

Sheet Tobacco

Cigarette manufacturers reconstitute bits of leftover tobacco plant stems, stalks, scraps, collected dust, and floor sweepings into an ingredient that can be added back into the final cigarette product.

The process involves grinding all of the above materials, extracting the nicotine from them, and then adding glue, fillers, chemicals, and other agents to form a slurry. The mixture is then pressed into a sheet, puffed up, and the extracted nicotine is sprayed on it. From there, it is ground up once again into fine curls that are incorporated into cigarettes in the desired amount.

Sheet tobacco is a major ingredient in modern manufactured cigarettes.

Toxic Byproducts of Burning Cigarettes

As mentioned above, the burning of benign food additives by themselves and in combination with other additives can create new chemical compounds that are hazardous to human health.

And, to make matters worse, pesticides used in tobacco farming and heavy metals found naturally in the soil, some of which are radioactive, can linger and travel on to the finished product (and the consumer). 

Get Help to Quit Smoking

Addiction tells us there is no good time to quit, so ignore the urge to put it off and start your quit program today.

The New York Times printed this story.

Tobacco Companies Are Told to Correct Lies About Smoking

• Nov. 27, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered tobacco companies to publish corrective statements that say they had lied about the dangers of smoking and that disclose smoking’s health effects, including the death on average of 1,200 people a day.

The judge, Gladys Kessler of United States District Court for the District of Columbia, previously said she wanted the industry to pay for corrective statements in various types of advertisements. But Tuesday’s ruling is the first time she laid out what the statements will say.

Each corrective ad is to be prefaced by a statement that a federal court has concluded that the defendant tobacco companies “deliberately deceived the American public about the health effects of smoking.” The corrective statements are part of a case the government brought in 1999.

Judge Kessler ruled in that case in 2006 that the nation’s largest cigarette makers had concealed the dangers of smoking for decades, and said she wanted the industry to pay for “corrective statements” in various types of ads.

The Justice Department proposed corrective statements, which Judge Kessler used as the basis for some of the ones she ordered Tuesday.

Tobacco companies had urged Judge Kessler to reject the government’s proposed industry-financed corrective statements; the companies called them “forced public confessions.” Judge Kessler wrote that all of the corrective statements were based on specific findings of fact made by the court.

“This court made a number of explicit findings that the tobacco companies perpetuated fraud and deceived the public regarding the addictiveness of cigarettes and nicotine,” she said.

A version of this article appears in print on Nov. 28, 2012, Section B, Page 8 of the New York edition with the headline: Tobacco Companies Are Told to Correct Lies About Smoking

Rather it starts out as using tobacco to calm oneself after an assault by a family member such as a parent, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, neighbor or friend. Perhaps it starts from seeing​ advertisements of people enjoying  life in such situations as sports or enjoying life with friends. Tobacco is becoming a part of  Americans lives at early ages and causing lifelong illnesses and premature deaths. Tobacco  is viewed as something refreshing to calm one’s nerves to help relax and feel as though it’s a part of your life that cannot be lived without. Tobacco companies know that not only is nicotine addictive but that there are multiple chemicals in tobacco that causes illnesses and diseases. Young   Americans are beginning to use tobacco products before  their lungs have even fully developed. This puts them in even greater danger for lung diseases. Tobacco companies realize this and so they aim that advertisement towards younger  people in an effort to get them hooked for longer periods of time.
It could be peer pressure that leads young people to tobacco. The desire to fit in with one’s friends can be something that leads to tobacco use. Witnessing all your friends smoking and always offering you a cigarette can lead to one starting the dirty, filthy habit. I can recall as a teen wanting to be with my friends and when they would go out to smoke I would go with them because I thought they were cool and I wanted to be a part of the cool click. So I would smoke also. But I was lucky because one day I realized what a dirty disgusting habit it was and that it was something that I really did not want to do. Most youth are not so lucky and they fall into the trap of smoking with their friends and before they know it they’re addicted to The Habit.
Parents have to be vigilant and start the process of enforcing what a bad habit tobacco use is from the time kids are still in the cradle. Parents must limit the access to potential Role Models such as parents who smoke because a son  wants to do what his dad does, a daughter wants to be like her mother. So when they see them smoke it’s something that they are likely to pick up themselves. If we love our kids we must keep them away from tobacco because that can lead to lifelong illnesses and premature death. One thing that’s worse than dying of not being able to breathe is living being unable to breathe.

Thank you for visiting my blog where I will expose the tobacco industry for placing profits above customer’s health and lives. Being an African-American I’m particularly appalled at the way they successfully target the African-American community. As a Respiratory Therapist I’m constantly reminded of how tobacco sucks the life out of it’s victims. It’s sad to see people pour billions upon billions annually to the profits of the tobacco industry ultimately to be rewarded with suffering and death. If a person was to take your money, mane and kill you, they would be prosecuted and punished. But because the tobacco industry is so big, they can do it out in the open without a peep from the powers that be.

Let’s be clear tobacco has no useful purpose other than to feed the greed of tobacco companies.Where are our government officials who have sworn an oath to protect us from all threats foreign and domestic?

I invite you to return to learn more about how the tobacco industry is allowed to exploit the African-American community under the watchful of our government and join the fight against tobacco.

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What is tobacco?

Tobacco leaves
Photo by ©iStock.com/USO

Tobacco is a plant grown for its leaves, which are dried and fermented before being put in tobacco products. Tobacco contains nicotine, an ingredient that can lead to addiction, which is why so many people who use tobacco find it difficult to quit. There are also many other potentially harmful chemicals found in tobacco or created by burning it.

How do people use tobacco?

People can smoke, chew, or sniff tobacco. Smoked tobacco products include cigarettes, cigars, bidis, and kreteks. Some people also smoke loose tobacco in a pipe or hookah (water pipe). Chewed tobacco products include chewing tobacco, snuff, dip, and snus; snuff can also be sniffed.

How does tobacco affect the brain?

The nicotine in any tobacco product readily absorbs into the blood when a person uses it. Upon entering the blood, nicotine immediately stimulates the adrenal glands to release the hormone epinephrine (adrenaline). Epinephrine stimulates the central nervous system and increases blood pressure, breathing, and heart rate. As with drugs such as cocaine and heroin, nicotine increases levels of the chemical messenger dopamine, which affects parts of the brain that control reward and pleasure. Studies suggest that other chemicals in tobacco smoke, such as acetaldehyde, may enhance nicotine’s effects on the brain.

What are other health effects of tobacco use?

Although nicotine is addictive, most of the severe health effects of tobacco use comes from other chemicals. Tobacco smoking can lead to lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema. It increases the risk of heart disease, which can lead to stroke or heart attack. Smoking has also been linked to other cancers, leukemia, cataracts, and pneumonia. All of these risks apply to use of any smoked product, including hookah tobacco. Smokeless tobacco increases the risk of cancer, especially mouth cancers.

Electronic Cigarettes

Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, are battery-operated devices that deliver nicotine with flavorings and other chemicals to the lungs in vapor instead of smoke. E-cigarette companies often advertise them as safer than traditional cigarettes because they don’t burn tobacco. But researchers actually know little about the health risks of using these devices. Read more about e-cigarettes in our Electronic Cigarettes (e-Cigarettes) DrugFacts.

Pregnant women who smoke cigarettes run an increased risk of miscarriage, stillborn or premature infants, or infants with low birth weight. Smoking while pregnant may also be associated with learning and behavioral problems in exposed children.

People who stand or sit near others who smoke are exposed to secondhand smoke, either coming from the burning end of the tobacco product or exhaled by the person who is smoking. Secondhand smoke exposure can also lead to lung cancer and heart disease. It can cause health problems in both adults and children, such as coughing, phlegm, reduced lung function, pneumonia, and bronchitis. Children exposed to secondhand smoke are at an increased risk of ear infections, severe asthma, lung infections, and death from sudden infant death syndrome.

How does tobacco use lead to addiction?

For many who use tobacco, long-term brain changes brought on by continued nicotine exposure result in addiction. When a person tries to quit, he or she may have withdrawal symptoms, including:

• irritability
• problems paying attention
• trouble sleeping
• increased appetite
• powerful cravings for tobacco

How can people get treatment for nicotine addiction?

Both behavioral treatments and medications can help people quit smoking, but the combination of medication with counseling is more effective than either alone.

March 2017