READ ABOUT THE FILTERS (OH MY)...THE PAPER..(YIKE)...CHARCOLE AND ADDITIVES. AND YOU THOUGHT IT WAS MADE UP OF TOBACCO LEAVES. THIS IS A MUST READ....MERCY Cigarette Filters What are cigarettes and filters made of? Cigarettes are made from four components, each of which is describe below. 1. Filters 2. Tobacco 3. Additives 4. Cigarette wrapper Cigarettes today are typically 85 or 100 mm long, and have diameters of about 8 mm. Their filters are usually 20 to 30 mm long, so a typical cigarette has 55 to 80 mm of tobacco. 1. Filters: Cigarette filters are specifically designed to absorb vapors and to accumulate particulate smoke components. Filters also prevent tobacco from entering a smoker's mouth and provide a mouthpiece that will not collapse as the cigarette is smoked. Filters generally have the following components: A "plug" of acetate cellulose filter tow 95% of cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate (a plastic), and the balance are made from papers and rayon. The cellulose acetate tow fibers are thinner than sewing thread, white, and packed tightly together to create a filter; they can look like cotton. Other materials have been tried and rejected in favor of the taste that acetate produces. Filters vary in filtration efficiency, depending on whether the cigarette is to be "light" or regular. How many fibers are in a cigarette filter? The following is quoted from a research paper by researchers from the New York State Department of Health, the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, and Cornell University. "Viewing the white face of the cigarette filter with the naked eye and compression of the filter column with the fingers would suggest that the filter is made of a sponge-like material. However, opening the cigarette filter, by cutting it lengthwise with a razor, reveals that it consists of a fibrous mass. Spreading apart the matrix reveals some of the more than 12 000 white fibers. Microscopically, these fibers are Y shaped and contain the delustrant titanium dioxide. The fibers are made of cellulose acetate, a synthetic plastic-like substance used commonly for photographic films. A plasticiser, triacetin (glycerol triacetate), is applied to bond the fibers." An inner paper wrapper (plug wrap) and gl