[Medical Q&A] Are low-tar cigarettes less harmful to health?

Planner: Chinese Medical Association

Reviewer: Xiao Dan, Researcher, China-Japan Friendship Hospital

"Low tar" is a commercial marketing that will give consumers a false impression that tobacco is "safer". In fact, low-tar cigarettes are not safer than ordinary cigarettes and are still very harmful to health.

Tar is a complex mixture that contains a variety of carcinogens and harmful chemicals, which mainly come from tobacco combustion. The so-called "low-tar cigarettes" only mean that the amount of tar when tobacco is burned may be lower, but some of the chemical components (such as nitrosamines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and other strong carcinogens) have not been reduced, so they cannot fundamentally reduce the harm caused by smoking. In addition, the nicotine content in some low-tar cigarettes may be reduced. Therefore, users may get enough nicotine by smoking deeper or more frequently. In this way, they will inhale more harmful substances and increase the total exposure to tobacco smoke. Please remember that as long as it is a tobacco product, whether it is a high-tar cigarette or a low-tar cigarette, a large amount of harmful substances will be produced during the combustion process. A reduction in tar content does not mean a reduction in the content of carcinogens, nor can it reduce the harm of tobacco to health. The best choice is still to quit smoking completely.