Analysis of additives in top-selling cigarettes in Korea

Lee Seul-Gi, Lee Kwang-Soo, Lee Jeom-Kyu
Division of Allergy & Chronic Respiratory Diseases, Center for Biomedical Science, KNIH, KCDC
Shin Ho-Sang, Lim Hyun-Hee
Department of Environmental Education, Kongju National University

Cigarettes include a variety of additives to improve nicotine delivery, and to facilitate cigarette use in adolescents and women. With the aim to present scientific evidence for a tobacco control policy, we investigated cigarette additives, including various flavors-based additives used in cigarette manufacturing. As of July 2016, we purchased 60 cigarettes for the analysis of cigarette tobacco filler additives. We detected 39 substances in cigarette tobacco fillers. Most of these identified additives were flavorings used as fragrance and food additives. The flavorings detected in this study have the effect of masking the intrinsic irritation caused by tobacco smoke, and also facilitate smoking initiation with their attractive smell and taste, potentially resulting in an increase in the number of new smokers, and in the degree of secondhand smoke. The addition of flavorings in cigarettes is controversial worldwide, and it is necessary to control the use of such cigarette additives in Korea.

Keywords: Tobacco, Cigarette, Smoking, Additives, Flavoring