September 19, 2026

Are the 7,000 chemicals added on purpose? No. But 599 others are

Iris

No. Most of those 7,000 chemicals form by themselves when tobacco burns. They get mixed up with a different list, and that one is shorter and less comfortable: around 600 substances are put into the cigarette on purpose.

Two lists, not one

• More than 7,000 chemicals is everything found in the smoke. Almost all of it is created in the burn.
• 599 documented additives is what the manufacturer puts into the product. The figure comes from the list the tobacco companies themselves have submitted to US authorities since 1984 (Rabinoff et al., American Journal of Public Health, 2007).

What nobody adds

Cadmium, lead and mercury are taken up by the plant from soil and fertiliser. Carbon monoxide, benzene, formaldehyde, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nitrosamines form in the heat, up to 900 °C during a puff (Surgeon General, 2010). Nobody has to pour them into a cigarette. They arrive anyway.

What is added, and what it does

• Sugar. Flavour. Burning it produces acetaldehyde, which may reinforce dependence (Cancer Council Victoria, Tobacco in Australia, section 12.6.2).
• Ammonia compounds such as ammonium bicarbonate, diammonium phosphate and urea. They raise the pH of the smoke, so more nicotine sits in its free-base form, the form the body absorbs fastest.
• Cocoa and liquorice. They widen the airways. The smoke travels deeper.
• Menthol and coolants. They dull the irritation in the throat by activating cold receptors. According to a review in Tobacco Control (2026), coolants may promote dependence in inexperienced users, because the discomfort that would otherwise turn a beginner away is missing.
• Organic acids and sugars. They lower pH, soften the smoke and increase the amount of nicotine that reaches the blood (Tobacco Control, 2026).

In a modern cigarette, about 10 per cent of the weight is additives, mostly sugars, humectants, ammonia compounds, cocoa and liquorice. Most other additives are used at less than 0.01 per cent of total weight (Rabinoff et al., 2007).

What the documents show, and what they don’t

The industry’s own documents show companies engineering cigarettes so that nicotine was absorbed faster, the smoke was easier to draw in and the smell was noticed less. Among the 599 additives, Rabinoff and his colleagues found more than 100 with a documented pharmacological effect.

Then comes the sentence most summaries drop: “Whether such uses were specifically intended for these agents is unknown.” Whether each individual additive went in for that particular effect is not established. What is documented is the effect itself, and that the companies studied it for decades.

One more nuance: no known additive is addictive on its own, and there are no known cases of the industry adding nicotine directly to the product (Tobacco in Australia). Nicotine in the tobacco does the work. The additives make it easier to carry on.

What the law does

The EU Tobacco Products Directive (2014/40/EU) requires manufacturers to report all ingredients to member states, with enhanced reporting for a priority list of additives. It bans additives that facilitate inhalation or nicotine uptake in smoking products (Article 7.6 d). Characterising flavours are prohibited.

The flavour ban applied from 2016. Menthol got four extra years in cigarettes because that product sold the most (Article 7.14), and disappeared from EU shelves on 20 May 2020.

Sources

• Rabinoff M. et al.: Pharmacological and Chemical Effects of Cigarette Additives, American Journal of Public Health 2007;97(11):1981–1991
• Cancer Council Victoria: Tobacco in Australia, 12.6.2 Additives that increase the addictiveness of tobacco products
• Talhout R. & Leventhal A. M.: Coolants, organic acids, flavourings and other additives that facilitate inhalation, Tobacco Control 2026;35(1):110–116
• European Commission: Product regulation (tobacco)
• European Parliament and Council Directive 2014/40/EU

All links opened on 19 September 2026.

This article is a translation of the Swedish original: Tillsätts de 7 000 ämnena med flit? Nej — men 599 andra läggs i