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Low Tar Cigarettes

Low tar cigarettes began being manufactured at around the same time as light cigarettes were introduced. The problem with the marketing of low tar and light cigarettes was that the public wrongly perceived them as a safer cigarette. It was during the late 70’s that public awareness of the dangers of smoking came about, and many cigarette companies began marketing low tar and light cigarettes. The debate about the safety of these cigarettes ensued for almost forty years, with many scientific tests taking place.

One of the most famous tests was done by Altria, a large American cigarette manufacturer, and it involved a machine taking the puffs of the cigarettes and then measuring the amounts of smoke and carcinogens. The test showed that low tar and light cigarettes produced less smoke, and therefore less tar, but the test was debunked by many scientific tests showing that people ended up breathing in deeper, holding the smoke in longer and smoking more because the smoke was diluted. The misconception has caused many class action lawsuits against marketers of light and low tar tobaccos.

One of the largest manufacturers of low tar cigarettes is Silk Cut. They achieve very low tar levels by including a tobacco substitute called Cyrel, which is mostly cellulose. 25% of the organic material in their smokes is Cyrel, the other 75% is regular tobacco, but smaller amount keeps tar down to .1mg, compared with up to 10mg of tar in some cigarettes. Many manufacturers have claimed they are not making a “safe” cigarette, only a better alternative.

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