Understanding Tar & Nicotine Numbers
Understanding Tar & Nicotine Numbers: What They Mean and What They Don't Mean
Machine Tests of Tar and Nicotine Yields
Philip Morris USA's Use of Brand Descriptors
Understanding Tar & Nicotine Numbers: What They Mean and What They Don't Mean
No two smokers smoke cigarettes exactly the same way. The average tar and nicotine yield numbers that are reported for cigarette brands are not meant (and were never intended) to communicate the precise amount of tar or nicotine inhaled by any individual smoker from any particular cigarette. These numbers come from standardized testing methods, which compare different brands when smoked by a machine under identical laboratory conditions. As regulators have said since their introduction, these tests - including those developed in cooperation with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) - show the relative differences in yields among brands, assuming that each brand is held and smoked the same way as it is in the machine.
It is reported that some consumers believe that their cigarette delivers exactly the amount of tar and nicotine from each cigarette that the test reports. The FTC told smokers that "in looking at 'tar' and nicotine numbers, you need to know that the amount of 'tar' and nicotine you get will vary significantly depending on how you smoke the cigarettes."
Using the tar numbers as a reference point, we describe some of our brands with terms such as "lights," "ultra-lights," "medium" and "mild." However, these brand descriptors, like the reported numbers themselves, have never indicated precisely how much tar or nicotine a particular smoker will inhale at any given time. Although we believe that descriptors serve as useful points of comparison for cigarette brands regarding characteristics such as strength of taste and reported tar yields, we do not imply in our marketing, and smokers should not assume, that "lights," "ultra-lights," "medium," and "mild" brands are safe or safer than full-flavor brands.
An additional word for smokers who may be interested in obtaining less tar and nicotine from their cigarettes: It is reported that smokers "compensate" for the reduced tar and nicotine yields of some brands by smoking them differently than they would higher yield brands. For example, they may take more or larger puffs, smoke more of the cigarette or block ventilation holes that contribute to the lower reported yields of some brands. Generally speaking, the more intensely a smoker smokes a cigarette, the more tar and nicotine he or she will inhale from that cigarette.
We have provided links on this page that directly access views of the public health community regarding lower-tar cigarettes and articles related to "compensatory" smoking behavior.
View a diagram indicating the typical location of ventilation holes on our cigarette brands that utilize them.
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Machine Tests of Tar and Nicotine Yields
Cigarette companies measure average per-cigarette yields of tar and nicotine by following standardized machine testing methods. U.S. companies follow the method that was prescribed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 1967 and which historically has been referred to as the "FTC method." Many other countries around the world use a similar method standardized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
During a test, a machine "smokes" each cigarette in the same manner. For example, the FTC method requires the machine to take one two-second puff of 35 milliliters of smoke each minute. The FTC method also requires that the cigarette be inserted to a specified depth on the cigarette filter and "smoked" to a specified length of the cigarette rod. Because the cigarettes are smoked by machine under identical laboratory conditions, tar and nicotine yields of each brand can be compared.
These machine methods were never intended to reflect what and how smokers actually inhale. Indeed, in 1967 when the FTC announced the completion of its trial tests of the current method, it stated that "[n]o test can precisely duplicate conditions of actual human smoking and, within fairly wide limits, no one method can be said to be either 'right' or 'wrong'...the purpose of testing is not to determine the amount of tar and nicotine inhaled by any human smoker, but rather to determine the amount of tar and nicotine generated when a cigarette is smoked by machine in accordance with the prescribed method." Read the FTC's 1967 press release describing the limitations of standardized machine tests.
In 1997, the FTC proposed revisions to its test method and is currently reevaluating it and developing specific recommendations on its future. Read the introduction to comments on the FTC's proposed revisions submitted by major U.S. tobacco manufacturers.
In light of these limitations, a smoker should not assume that the machine test numbers printed in advertisements indicate the actual amount of tar and nicotine that will be inhaled from any particular cigarette or the relative amount of tar and nicotine as compared to any other brand.
Since 1997, cigarette companies, including PM USA, have reported to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts nicotine yield numbers using a machine testing method specified by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and different from the FTC method referenced above. View additional information about the methodology required for the Massachusetts reports.
Copies of the reports PM USA submitted on nicotine yield numbers to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health can be viewed by clicking below:
2007 Report
2006 Report
2005 Report
2004 Report
2003 Report
2002 Report
2001 Report
2000 Report
1999 Report
1998 Report
1997 Report
View a report issued by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health entitled, “Change in Nicotine Yields 1998 - 2004” (issued August 2006).
Since 1999, cigarette companies, including PM USA, have reported to the State of Texas nicotine yield numbers using a machine testing method specified by the State of Texas and different from the FTC method referenced above. To view additional information about the methodology required for the Texas reports, click here.
Copies of the reports PM USA submitted on nicotine yield numbers to the Texas Department of State Health Services can be viewed by clicking below:
The tar and nicotine yield numbers that are reported for cigarette brands do not communicate the precise amount of tar or nicotine inhaled by any individual smoker from any particular cigarette. These numbers come from testing methods, which compare different brands when smoked by a machine under identical laboratory conditions.
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Philip Morris USA's Use of Brand Descriptors
Full Flavor. Medium. Mild. Light. Ultra Light.
Philip Morris USA frequently describes cigarette brands using these descriptors that facilitate a smoker’s ability to distinguish among our products.
We use these terms to describe the strength of taste and flavor in our products. They also serve as a relative indication of the average tar and nicotine yield per cigarette (as measured by a standard government machine method) for a brand in order to distinguish it from others on the market.
Understanding descriptors
Smokers should consider the following when choosing a cigarette product:
- A smoker should not assume that brand descriptors such as "light" or "ultra light" indicate with precision either the actual amount of tar and nicotine inhaled from any particular cigarette, or the relative amount as compared to competing cigarette brands.
- Some researchers report that smokers of "light" cigarettes inhale as much tar and nicotine as from full-flavor brands. The amount of tar and nicotine inhaled will be higher, for example, if a smoker blocks ventilation holes, inhales more deeply, takes more puffs or smokes more cigarettes.
- PM USA does not imply in our marketing, and smokers should not assume, that lower-yielding brands are safe or safer than full-flavor brands.
- There is no safe cigarette. "Medium," "mild," "light" and "ultra light" cigarettes are no exception.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has stated that "smoking 'low tar' or 'light' cigarettes does not eliminate the health risks of smoking. If you're concerned about the health risks of smoking, stop smoking ... There's no such thing as a safe smoke."
The National Cancer Institute Monograph 13 press release includes a link to the full study: "Risks Associated with Smoking Cigarettes with Low Machine-Measured Yields of Tar and Nicotine."
As of today, there is no cigarette on the market which public health organizations endorse as offering "reduced risk." If smokers are concerned about the risks of smoking, quitting is by far their best alternative for reducing those risks.
Because smokers have varying preferences, PM USA offers products with differing yields of tar and nicotine, as measured by machine methods. We believe that it is appropriate to differentiate our brands on this basis and that descriptors such as "light," "ultra light," "medium" and "mild" help communicate these differences to adult smokers.
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