Cigarette Filter Information
Cigarettes with a cork-colored smoking end, often designated "light" cigarettes, are those with a filter installed. Women's light and ultra-light cigarettes also have filters, although they are typically still white on the end. The implication is that light cigarettes are safer for smokers, because of the filter. An examination of several factors determines whether or not experts believe this to be true.
Function
As concern over the effects of smoking increased in the mid 20th century, and reports and research from doctors linked cigarette smoking to lung cancer, cigarette manufactures developed the filter. In theory, the purpose of the filter is to reduce the amount of tar and nicotine that a smoker inhales with each breath through a series of holes that combine fresh air with the cigarette smoke, theoretically making the cigarettes safer.
History
A Hungarian inventor, Boris Aivaz, patented the first cigarette filter making process in 1925 and made the first cigarette filter in 1927. However, lack of machinery to produce the filtered cigarettes kept the idea from taking off. A British company developed just such a machine in 1935. However, it wasn't until 1954, when speculation about the connection between lung cancer and cigarettes spread, that the machine became more widely used. Filtered cigarettes were in wide circulation by the 1960s.
Composition
A cigarette filter is virtually a plug or cap placed in the end of a cigarette, predominately made of a plastic known as cellulose (developed from wood). Manufacturers dissolve the cellulose and then spin it into continuous synthetic fibers, called tows, that look similar to cotton upon initial view. Manufacturers then open the tow, take the necessary steps to give it a plastic quality, shape it and then cut it to fit the cigarettes. Filters also contain chemical additives that make the cigarette smoke taste better (such as menthol cigarettes) and speed up the delivery process of nicotine to your brain.
Testing
When manufacturers first looked into producing cigarette filters in mass quantities, they designed machines to test their effectiveness. These machines were able to smoke filtered and non-filtered cigarettes under identical circumstances and compare them. The results determined by the machines were that the filters reduced the amount of tar and nicotine inhaled when "smoking" the filtered cigarette as compared to the non-filtered cigarette. On major flaw that anti-tobacco enthusiasts find in this testing method is that each human being smokes differently than a programmed machine.
Effectiveness
As stated, cigarette filters have holes in them that allow outside air to come into the cigarette when a smoker inhales, which mixes with the smoke and dilutes the toxins. According to Stop-smoking-tips.com, while machine testing apparently showed that this approach was an effective way to reduce the toxins in smoke, most researchers have concluded that filtered cigarettes are equally as bad for smokers as non-filtered cigarettes. For starters, smokers can cover the holes in the filter with their fingers or lips. Additionally, research shows that individuals who smoke filtered cigarettes (often deemed "light" cigarettes) inhale more deeply when smoking, and hold the cigarette smoke within their lungs for longer amounts of time. Both circumstances render the filter virtually ineffective.
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