Cigarette Additives May Make It Tougher to Quit

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The potentially harmful additives include chocolate and cocoa, which have chemicals that can make it easier for cigarette smoke to penetrate the lungs. Other additives appear to have an anesthetizing effect that makes it easier for smokers to avoid coughing, the researchers said.

"We don't know exactly the intent of all these agents," Rabinoff said, although internal tobacco industry documents reveal some information. He added that it's a challenge to figure out what tobacco companies are up to and "reverse-engineer their thought process."

In a statement provided to HealthDay, leading tobacco company Philip Morris declined to comment on the study because it said it had not finished reviewing it. But the company did say it discloses the ingredients of its cigarettes to the federal government and "it is our scientific judgment, based on the best data available, that the ingredients used in our cigarettes do not increase the inherent hazards of smoking."

Instead, the statement said, "the ingredients complement the subjective characteristics of the different tobacco types and provide the distinctive flavors, tastes, and aromas associated with our brands. We also use ingredients as processing aids and as humectants to keep the tobacco pliant. The flavor ingredients we use, and the precise way in which we use them, help distinguish our products from those of our competitors. The distinctive taste of our products is an extremely important and valuable part of our competitive strategy."

Philip Morris said it supports legislation that would give the federal government the authority to regulate cigarettes, although it thinks additives shouldn't be banned because they make a cigarette "taste better."

Rabinoff is author of a new book called Ending The Tobacco Holocaust: How Big Tobacco Affects Our Health, Pocketbook And Political Freedom, and What We Can Do About It.

Pankow, the Oregon professor, said the new study is "a bunch of information that's been out there, but they've put it all in one place."

As for the public, people aren't "aware of any given additive being used," he said.

More information

For help on quitting smoking, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.