Can you name one cigarette brand in the market today that doesn’t have a filter? I bet there is none. Marlboro, Newport, Kent, Salem — all have filters and they got their filters during the 1950′s.

The 1950s was the first time that the tobacco companies began to encounter problems about the health hazards of their products. Research findings were coming out in succession linking smoking to lung cancer. The findings had put the tobacco companies on the defensive. Public opinion against them was rising. Naturally, the embattled tobacco companies put up a spirited defense. They took steps to neutralize and soften up the negative impact of these clinical findings. Among the many moves taken by cigarette manufacturers was the use of a filter, purportedly a device that will make smoking not merely safer but safe.

Filter came in wide use in the 1950s

P. Lorillard Tobacco Company was the first to introduce a filter cigarette in 1952. Its Kent brand carried the “micronite” filter. The filter contained asbestos which at that time was not yet known to be carcinogenic. The micronite filter was eventually replaced with another filter material in 1956.  P. Lorillard also introduced in 1954 the Cippolone filter for its L&M brand. The Cippolone filter became the “Fiberglass Filter” that the Newport brand used.

Also in 1954, RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company introduced Winston, its first filter cigarette. Two years later, RJR introduced the first filter-tipped menthol cigarette, Salem.

1954 was also the year that Philip Morris introduced the London-born Marlboro into the United States as a cigarette for women. It also had a filter tip.

 Viceroy cigarette was US first filter

Viceroy cigarette manufactured by Brown & Willamson was the first cork-tipped filter cigarette in America. The year was 1936. It was in the 1950s, however, that a considerable number of filter cigarettes was introduced as a reaction to the increasing number of clinical findings about smoking and lung cancer.

Viceroy was also the first to use in 1952 the cellulose acetate filter (the new industry standard at that time), ahead of the other cigarette  manufacturers.

Cigarette filter invented in 1925

It was a Hungarian, Boris Alvaz, who invented the cigarette filter making in 1925. He made his fist filter cigarette in 1927. It was not until the 1950s that machinery was invented to allow mass production that the filter cigarette gained substantial ground.

Composition of a cigarette filter

The modern filter is made up mostly of cellulose acetate, a kind of plastic. Other components are paper and rayon. The composite material is in very thin fiber form tightly packed together. It is white in color. It is designed with tiny holes through which outside air passes.  Every time the smoker takes a drag, outside air mixes with the smokers drag of the cigarette. The idea behind is to dilute whatever toxins are contained in the cigarette smoke.

The cellulose acetate is held closely packed by an inner wrapping which may be airtight or perforated to allow air through during puffing. The outer wrapping serves are the final cover and attaches the filter to the tobacco. Most filters have the color of cork for its outer wrapping. But there are also those that use the color white.

Are filtered cigarettes better?

Researchers found, however, that the filter cigarettes are no better and no safer than a non-filter cigarette. In theory, filters can reduce the amount of tar, nicotine and other toxins. But the filter is not a sufficient medium to trap the toxins in smoke. Moreover, it has been observed that smokers of filter cigarettes tend to, consciously or unconsciously, take harder drags for more smoke. They inhale more deeply and hold the smoke in their lungs for a longer time.

The filter is not entirely useless, though. Aside from filtration, it serves as a firm mouthpiece that doesn’t collapse when a smoker takes a drag, prevents direct contact between the tobacco and the smokers lips and mouth, traps the fine tobacco particles, and absorbs vapors.