Should we ban filters in cigarettes?

While filters have been identified as the "deadliest fraud in the history of human civilization"[1], almost all cigarettes smoked around the world contain them. In an article published on April 26, 2021 in the journal Tobacco Control, researchers call on public health and environmental stakeholders to work towards its ban[2].

The first filters appeared on the market around 1860, and only had the objective of comfort of consumption, aiming to prevent pieces of tobacco from entering the smoker's mouth. It was only from the 1950s that the filter made of cellulose acetate, as we know it today, appeared. Developed by the tobacco industry, it aims to respond to smokers' initial concerns about the dangers of their consumption. Indeed, if the link between lung cancer and tobacco consumption is established knowledge among manufacturers, awareness among the general public is only just beginning.

Responding to consumer concerns with false solutions

From the start, filters were marketed by tobacco companies as a tool to reduce the risks of tobacco consumption. As such, as the Tobacco Control magazine points out, the very choice of the name “filter” is misleading, in that it suggests the reduction of harm to health. Over time, again to respond to consumer concerns about health risks, the tobacco industry developed other filter models. From the 70s and 80s, manufacturers offered filters perforated on the sides. As a result, when cigarettes are tested by machines, they indicate a lower yield of tar and nicotine. In reality, when cigarettes are consumed by a real smoker, the smoker's fingers block the perforations, preventing the reduction of nicotine and tar levels. In other words, these operations seek two objectives. On the one hand, manufacturers aim to reduce the perception of risk, and not the risk itself. On the other hand, these filters allow the industry to respect restrictive standards which do not correspond to any reality in a situation of consumption by a smoker.

Filters, associated with increased health risks for smokers

The vast majority of independent studies show that the use of filters in tobacco consumption is not accompanied by a reduction in risks to the smoker's health. As for the tobacco industry, the lack of health benefit of the filter has been known since the 1960s. Above all, the scientific literature demonstrates that the use of filters is associated with an increase in risks for the smoker. First, to maintain their nicotine intake, smokers take deeper and more prolonged puffs, leading to increased toxicity and addictiveness of their consumption. Then, the toxic fibers present at the cut end of the filter are inhaled and ingested by smokers. Finally, the presence of a filter alters consumers' perception of the real risks involved. As a result, the generalization of filters on cigarettes has contributed to the increase in lung adenocarcinomas.[3], a malignant lung tumor, responsible for almost 30% of lung cancers.

The major environmental impact of filters

Beyond having no health justification, the filter has a major environmental issue. Every year, an estimated 4.5 billion filters are thrown away and end up in the environment. The marine ecosystem is therefore massively and sustainably polluted: filters are among the ten most widespread plastics in the oceans. Made of cellulose acetate, they take ten to fifteen years before decomposing in nature, and release thousands of toxic chemicals, with one cigarette butt being able to pollute up to 500 liters of water. As the authors point out, many single-use plastics were banned by the European Union in 2019, but initial proposals for member states to reduce plastic waste from 80% cigarettes by 2030 were abandoned for non-binding measures.

An ideal communications and public relations lever

The tobacco industry must now contribute to the costs of cleaning, collecting and processing waste, according to the polluter pays principle. Furthermore, manufacturers are required to participate in raising awareness among the general public on the issue of plastic contained in filters. This awareness-raising obligation is today identified by the tobacco industry as a communication lever. For the same reasons, manufacturers are increasingly interested in marketing so-called biodegradable filters. In reality, these filters are only truly biodegradable before consumption: after exposure to tobacco smoke, they contain a large number of highly toxic substances, such as heavy metals. Finally, researchers point out the risk of rehabilitation of the tobacco industry as a responsible social actor through these operations. In fact, manufacturers exploit the filter issue to impose partnership relations with public authorities. Furthermore, the “biodegradable” filter solution does not resolve the question of its dangerousness for the smoker's health.

Filters, largely forgotten by European regulations

Currently, European regulations prohibit the use of misleading descriptors, particularly those linked to taste or health, such as “light” or “organic” cigarettes. In this fight against disinformation, the design and innovations of filters are the big things forgotten in the regulations. This regulatory loophole allows the tobacco industry to promote its products, particularly to its partners and investors. In France, for example, tobacco advertising remains authorized in the professional press, such as the Revue des Tabacs. The industry can thus communicate on these innovations, like hollow filters, notably intended to camouflage part of the coloring of the filter after consumption.

[1] New York Times, Who Made That Cigarette Filter?, 07/06/2012, (accessed 04/27/2021)

[2] Evans-Reeves K, Lauber K, Hiscock R, The 'filter fraud' persists: the tobacco industry is still using filters to suggest lower health risks while destroying the environment, Tobacco Control Published Online First: 26 April 2021. doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol -2020-056245

[3] Min-Ae Song, Neal L Benowitz, Micah Berman, Theodore M Brasky, K Michael Cummings, Dorothy K Hatsukami, Catalin Marian, Richard O'Connor, Vaughan W Rees, Casper Woroszylo, Peter G Shields, Cigarette Filter Ventilation and its Relationship to Increasing Rates of Lung Adenocarcinoma, JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Volume 109, Issue 12, December 2017, djx075, https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djx075

National Committee Against Smoking |