Additives in cigarettes

By Times-Dispatch Staff Reports

Published: December 14, 2008

Here’s an ABC of some additives that go into cigarettes — not all at one time — compiled from a list of 599 additives disclosed by tobacco-makers to the U.S. Health and Human Services Department:

• Acetanisole Found in a glandular secretion of beavers that smells sweet and can taste like vanilla or cherry.

• Ammonia Used in cleaning fluid. Makes eyes sting and can cause dermatitis.

• Beet juice

• Butyric acid Found in rancid butter, vomit and Parmesan cheese, it has an acrid taste but sweet aftertaste.

• Caffeine

• Capsicum oleoresin Active ingredient in pepper spray.

• Chocolate

• Cinnamon

• Clover top

• Diacetyl An artificial butter flavoring that can be hazardous when heated and inhaled over a long period.

• Dill seed

• Ethyl acetate A solvent.

• Farnesol An alcohol that is also a natural pesticide for mites and is a pheromone for several insects.

• Fig juice

• Galbanum An aromatic gum, with a disagreeable, bitter taste. It is mentioned in the Jewish Talmud as an ingredient of incense included to be a reminder of unrepentant, deliberate sinners.

• Glycerol A colorless, sweet liquid that bonds with water.

• Honey

• Isobutyl acetate A solvent used in lacquer.

• Jasmine

• Kola nut

• Lauric acid A fatty acid that smells slightly of bay oil or soap.

• Lemongrass

• Magnesium carbonate A mineral used in flooring, fireproofing, cosmetics and toothpaste that may be a laxative in high doses.

• Methoprene A hormone used in drinking water cisterns to control mosquitoes that spread malaria.

• Nonanoic acid Used to make plasticized lacquer and as a herbicide.

• Nutmeg

• Oak chip

• Oleic acid Emitted by the decaying corpses of some bees and ants to signal living workers to remove bodies from the nest.

• Potassium sorbate A food preservative.

• Rose

• Rum

• Skatole A compound generated in mammals’ digestive tracts and in beets that has a strong fecal odor.

• Soda ash (sodium carbonate) Used as a water softener and in making glass.

• Tartaric acid Found in wine and bananas, it gives foods a sour taste and is used as an antioxidant.

• Thiazole A flammable liquid used to make fungicides.

• Urea A chemical used in fertilizer that can irritate the eyes, skin and respiratory tract.

• Vanillin

• Walnut hull extract

• Wine

• Xanthan gum A food additive used as a thickener.

• Yeast