Report on Filters
Do cigarette filters cut down on the tar andnicotine that have helped to earn tobacco its unpleasant reputation asa cause of lung cancer, heart disease and assorted other ills?Certainly both tobacco companies and smokers seem to think so. In 1952,only 2% of cigarettes manufactured in the U.S. were filtered; lastyear, when more cigarettes were sold than ever before, 64.7% had tipspurportedly capable of straining out dangerous substances.
As recently as 1962, even so eminent a cancer researcher as Dr. GeorgeE.
Moore, of Buffalo's Roswell Park Me morial Institute, agreed thatfilters could reduce the chances of disease. By last week, though, Dr.Moore had second thoughts. His latest tests showed that some filteredcigarettes let through more tar and nicotine than do cigarettes of thesame brand without filter tips.
His findings were stark confirmation of studies made nine years ago, which showed that some cigarette manufacturers,anxious to get a satisfactory flavor past their filters and to theircustomers, had switched to stronger tobacco.
Dr. Moore's findings show a wide variation among filtered brands. In thethree cases where filters and nonfilters of the same brand werematched, the nonfilters did better — except for Lucky Strike filters,which passed more tar but slightly less nicotine than the regular brandof Luckies.
Milligrams of
BRAND TAR NICOTINE
Passed Through
Pall Mall filters 43.3. . . .2.13
Pall Mall regulars 32.7 1.75
Chesterfield filters 27.6 1.72
Chesterfield regulars 27.0. . .1.18
Lucky Strike filters 27.3 1.34
Lucky Strike regulars 27.2. .1.42
Salem filters 23.6 1 43
Lark filters 23.1 L26
Winston filters 22.9 1.32
Marlboro filters 22.4 1.24
Kent filters 18.8. . . . 1.10
True filters 16.9 79
Even though some filters are working more effectively than others, saidDr. Moore, none is really successful in protecting the smoker againstlung cancer, emphysema, and cardiovascular disabilities. "Many filtersare just not doing the job," he said.
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