How a Cigarette Is Engineered

Cigarette paper 3

Tobacco filler 7,8,9

• Holds the tobacco filler.

• Manufacturers add chemicals to the paper 

to control how fast the cigarette burns.

• Smokers inhale everything that is burned— 

the tobacco filler, the paper... everything.

• Made up of chopped tobacco 

leaves, stems, reprocessed 

pieces, and scraps. 

• Dangerous chemicals can form in and 

be deposited on tobacco during the 

processing of the tobacco leaves.

• Other dangerous chemicals are created 

when the tobacco filler is burned.

Manufacturers can add hundreds of ingredients

to a cigarette to make smoking more appealing 

and to mask the harshness of smoke.

Certain additives, like sugars, can form 

cancer-causing chemicals when they 

are burned.

Sugar and flavor* additives can change 

the taste of smoke and make it easier to 

inhale, but no less harmful.

Ammonia and other chemicals added to 

tobacco may increase the absorption of 

nicotine, which is addictive.

Some additives are bronchodilators that 

could increase the amount of dangerous 

chemicals absorbed by the lungs.

*In 2009, The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act banned characterizing 

flavors in cigarettes, except for tobacco and menthol flavors.

Additives10,11,12

Tipping paper 6 Filter 3,4,5

• Wraps around the filter, connecting 

it to the rest of the cigarette. 

• Typically made from bundles 

of thin, hair-like fibers.

• Designed to trap smoke, but 

only stops a small portion of the 

smoke from being inhaled.

• The filter (and ventilation holes) in 

most cigarettes may lead smokers to 

inhale more deeply, pulling dangerous 

chemicals farther into their lungs.

The design and content of cigarettes continue to make them attractive, addictive, and deadly.1 Every day, more than 1,300 people in 

the United States die because of cigarette use.2

• Ventilation holes, if unblocked, 

dilute inhaled smoke with air.

• Manufacturers have chosen to place 

the ventilation holes where they are. 

The holes are largely ineffective. 

Because of their location, most 

smokers unknowingly block them 

with their fingers or lips.

CENTER FOR TOBACCO PRODUCTS

FDA’S REGULATORY AUTHORITY: The FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) has broad authority, via the Tobacco 

Control Act, to regulate the manufacturing, distribution, and marketing of tobacco products. To protect public health, 

CTP has the authority to regulate what ingredients tobacco manufacturers can put into their products.

(1) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A Report of the Surgeon General: How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease (Fact Sheet). Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease 

Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2010. (2) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2014. (3) Taylor MJ. The role of filter technology in reduced yield cigarettes. Filtrona. World Tobacco Exhibition Kunming. (4) Kiefer 

JE, Mumpower RC II. Parameters That Affect the Pressure Drop and Efficiency of Cellulose Acetate Cigarette Filters. Research Laboratories, Tennessee Eastman Company; 2004; Bates number: 81052204/2269. (5) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Let’s Make the 

Next Generation Tobacco-Free: Your Guide to the 50th Anniversary Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health (Consumer Booklet). Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease 

Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2014. (6) Browne CL. The Design of Cigarettes. 3rd ed. Charlotte, NC: C Filter Products Division, Hoechst Celanese Corporation; 1990. (7) Spears AW. Effect of manufacturing variables on cigarette smoke composition.

CORESTA Bulletin d’Information. 1974;6:65-78. (8) Geiss O, Kotzias D. Tobacco, Cigarettes, and Cigarette Smoke: An Overview. European Commission, Directorate-General, Joint Research Centre; 2007. (9) Baker R. A review of pyrolysis studies to unravel reaction steps in burning 

tobacco. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis. 1987;11:555-573. (10) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. 

Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2010. (11) Rabinoff M, Caskey N, Rissling A, Park, C. Pharmacological and chemical effects of 

cigarette additives. American Journal of Public Health. 2007;97(11):1981-1991. (12) Talhout R, Opperhuizen A, Amsterdam J. Sugars as tobacco ingredient: Effects on mainstream smoke composition. Food and Chemical Toxicology. 2006;44(11):1789-1798.

Last Updated October 2016

CTP-62-P

www.fda.gov/tobacco @FDATobacco facebook.com/fda