Tar, Nicotine & Filters

Cigarette smokers who wanted to pick a winner in the tar-and-nicotine sweepstakes got a form sheet last week from one of the nation's leading cancer research organizations, the New York State-supported Roswell Park Memorial Institute in Buffalo. Director George E. Moore reported that machine smoking and chemical analysis disclosed the following yields (in milligrams) for 56 brands:

Brand Type-Tar Nicotine Marvels. . .KF. . . 8.3. ..0.32 Cascade. . KMF. 9.1. ...0.34 Carlton . . . .KF . . 9.7. .. .0.74 King Sano. . KFD . 12.0. . . 0.39 Duke KF .12.3. . . . . 0.46 Life .KF .13.6. . .. .0.97 True. . KF. .15.8. . . 0.80 Kent KF 18.8. . 1.10 Montclair KMF 21.1 1.15 Spring KMF 21.7 1.16 Galaxy Marlboro KF KF 22.1 22.4 1.43 1.24 Winston KF 22.9 1.32 Old Gold KF 23.0 1.32 Waterford KF 23.0 1.40 Lark KF 23.1 1.26 Philip Newport Morris KF KMF 23.3 23.2 1.34 1.46 Viceroy KF 23.4 1.68 Salem KMF 23.6 1.43 Paxton KMF 23.8 1.43 Parliament KF 24.0 1.44 L&M RF 24.9 1.12 Benson & Hedges RF 25.0 1.55 Tempo KF 25.1 1.68 Tareyton KF 25.3 1.35 Alpine KMF 26.4 1.52 Kool KMF 26.6 1.88 Chesterfield R 27.0 1.18 Oasis Lucky Strike R KMF 27.1 27.1 1.42 1.38 Lucky Chesterfield Strike KF KF 27.6 27.3 1.42 1.72 Raleigh KF 27.8 1.98 Old Philip Gold Morris R R 29.7 28.8 1.63 1.37 Belair KMF 29.7 2.11 du Maurier KF 30.0 1.96 Players R 31.0 1.67 Camel R 31.3 1.69 York K 32.4 1.69 Camel KF 32.4 1.77 Pall Mall K 33.0 1.75 Half & Half KF 33.6 1.99 Domino K 34.1 1.48 Old Gold K 34.8 1.89 Masterpiece KF 35.9 2.23 Kool RM 36.3 2.21 Fatima K 36.7 1.73 Philip Morris K 37.2 2.11 Benson Brandon & Hedges 100's. K .KF 39.3 38.5 2.29 2.35 Holiday Tareyton K K 41.5 41.1 1.97 2.45 Pall Mall KF 41.6 2.20 Raleigh K 43.4 2.64 Filtered brands, which made up only 3% of total cigarette sales in 1953, now account for 68%. But, said Dr. Moore, "although some filter cigarettes are delivering less tar and nicotine to the smoker than regular cigarettes, most are not adequately protecting him from a medical point of view. We believe that improved filters would help stop premature loss of life from lung cancer, emphysema, heart-artery disease, and other diseases associated with heavy smoking."

Smokers who want to switch may have a problem. The two top-rated brands, Stephano Bros.' Marvels and Cascade, are sold in relatively few stores and even fewer machines. Carlton, made by American Tobacco Co., is more widely distributed but by no means as widely as the old stand-by brands.

* K--king (80-100 millimeters), R--regular (70 mm.), F--filter, M--menthol, D--denicotinized.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.