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Excerpts from Cigarettes: a complex cocktail of chemicals

BBC News [02/17/99]

Cigarettes are not just made of tar, tobacco and nicotine.

More than 600 additives can legally be added to tobacco products.

These include coffee extract, sugar, vanilla, cocoa, menthol, oil from clove stems, caramel and chorophyll, the compound that gives plants their green colour.

Many appear to be present simply to add flavour. But they may also have more sinister effects. For example, cocoa when burned in a cigarette produces bromide gas that dilates the airways of the lung, and increases the body's ability to absorb nicotine.

Menthol is also suspected of enabling the smoker to inhale more easily by numbing the throat.

Researchers claim that other additives have been expertly developed by tobacco companies to manipulate the delivery of nicotine with extreme precision.

Techniques employed by tobacco companies include:

Addition of ammonia compounds, which speed the delivery of nicotine to smokers by raising the alkalinity of tobacco smoke. These compounds also distort the measurement of tar in cigarettes, giving lower readings than would actually be inhaled by the smoker; Addition of chemicals, such as acetaldehyde and pyridine, that act to strengthen nicotine's impact on the brain and central nervous system.

There is also concern about the so-called "burn enhancers" that cause cigarettes to remain ignited and may lead to additional fire hazards.

The genetic engineering of tobacco plants to substantially boost nicotine content.

A coalition of health groups, including the British Heart Foundation and the Royal College of Physicians, wrote to the government last autumn, warning that additives may cause harm by increasing the use of tobacco.

For example, sweeteners such as sugar can also be added to cigarettes, making them more appealing to young people.

The campaigners have been calling on the government to introduce a regulatory framework on additives.

The letter was signed by Action on Smoking and Health.

A spokeswoman said: "The problem with additives is that they are not just about altering the flavour of cigarettes. Research has shown that the key purpose of putting extra additives into cigarettes is to improve their potency and ultimately their addictiveness.

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