Key Points:
~ The lower tar and nicotine numbers on light cigarette packs and in ads are misleading.
~ Light cigarettes trick the smoking machines so that they record artificially low tar and nicotine levels.
~ Light cigarettes provide no benefit to smokers’ health.
~ Resources are available for people who want to quit smoking.
Many smokers choose "low-tar," "mild," or "light" cigarettes because they think that light cigarettes may be less harmful to their health than "regular" or "full-flavor" cigarettes.
After all, the smoke from light cigarettes feels smoother and lighter on the throat and chest—so lights must be healthier than regulars, right? Wrong.
The truth is that light cigarettes do not reduce the health risks of smoking. The only way to reduce your risk, and the risk to others around you, is to stop smoking completely.
What about the lower tar and nicotine numbers on light cigarette packs and in ads for lights?
These numbers come from smoking machines that "smoke" every brand of cigarettes exactly the same way.
These numbers do not really tell how much tar and nicotine a particular smoker may get because people do not smoke cigarettes the same way the machines do.
And no two people smoke the same way.
How do light cigarettes trick the smoking machines?
Tobacco companies designed light cigarettes with tiny pinholes on the filters. These "filter vents" dilute cigarette smoke with air when light cigarettes are "puffed" on by smoking machines, causing the machines to measure artificially low tar and nicotine levels.
Many smokers do not know that their cigarette filters have vent holes. The filter vents are uncovered when cigarettes are smoked on smoking machines. However, without realizing it and because they cannot avoid it, many smokers block the tiny vent holes with their fingers or lips—which basically turns the light cigarette into a regular cigarette.
Because people, unlike machines, crave nicotine, they may inhale more deeply; take larger, more rapid, or more frequent puffs; or smoke a few extra cigarettes each day to get enough nicotine to satisfy their craving. This is called "compensating," and it means that smokers end up inhaling more tar, nicotine, and other harmful chemicals than the machine-based numbers suggest.
Cigarette makers can also make the paper wrapped around the tobacco of light cigarettes burn faster so that the smoking machines get in fewer puffs before the cigarettes burn down. The result is that the machine measures less tar and nicotine in the smoke of the cigarette.
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Source:
National Cancer Institute
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