# Cigarette ADDITIVES/CHEMICALS What are they exactly? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 21, 2001, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-additives-chemicals-what-are-they-exactly/62784 "2001-04-21T13:03:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![anenquiringmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anenquiringmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anenquiringmind)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-additives-chemicals-what-are-they-exactly/62784/1 "2001-04-21T13:03:47Z")
What are the NAMES of the chemicals/additives that cigarette companies add to cigarettes? According to Winston cigarettes ads, they have no additives in their product. What is the purpose of the additives? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-additives-chemicals-what-are-they-exactly/62784/2 "2001-04-21T17:45:23Z")
I can name a few, and there are lots more I don’t know. Many tobaccos are sprayed/soaked/cured with sugar, molasses, grape juice, and such to make the smoke taste less like a brush fire. Ammonia is added to aid in vaporizing the nicotine. That makes it more likely that you’ll become addicted to the product and become a loyal customer until your untimely death. Another category is pesticides. Despite the fact that tobacco is naturally unfriendly to some kinds of bugs, farmers must use massive doses of insecticide to ward off the critters that are able to munch the stuff. Despite Winston’s claim of “no additives,” I doubt that Winstons contain no pesticides. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-additives-chemicals-what-are-they-exactly/62784/3 "2001-04-21T18:04:09Z")
A flat list of 599 that circulates: [http://www.drugs.indiana.edu/druginfo/additives.html](http://www.drugs.indiana.edu/druginfo/additives.html) How many of these actually are a cause for added concern is another question. Here’s some discussion of the reasons for additives (based on Europe, but I doubt that the pattern is very different for US distribution): [http://www.ash.org.uk/html/regulation/html/additives.html](http://www.ash.org.uk/html/regulation/html/additives.html) ---
**Author:** ![anenquiringmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anenquiringmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anenquiringmind)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-additives-chemicals-what-are-they-exactly/62784/4 "2001-04-21T18:10:43Z")
Thanks for the list. That is exactly what I was looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2001, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-additives-chemicals-what-are-they-exactly/62784/5 "2001-04-23T13:35:01Z")
The only cigarette I’ve seen that actually lists its ingredients on its carton is Eagle. They are: > [@](#): > > Blended Tobacco, Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Glycerol, Propylene Glycol, Sucrose, Invert Sugar, Casing Flavor, Natural & Artificial Licorice Flavor, Menthol, Artificial Milk Chocolate, Natural Chocolate Flavor, Artificial Tobacco Flavors, Valerian Root Extract, Molasses Extract, Vanilla Extract, Vanillin, Isovaleric Acid, Cedarwood Oil, Phenylacetic Acid, Patchouli Oil, Hexanoic Acid, Vetiver Oil, Olibanum Oil, 3-Methylpentanoic Acid, Denatured Ethanol.