ArticleTobacco control2016
Public understanding of cigarette smoke constituents: three US surveys.
Article in Tobacco control, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
49 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 64 citations in OpenAlex.
- How people think about the chemicals in cigarette smoke: a systematic review.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2017Pooled it
- The Development and Testing of a Point-of-Sale E-Cigarette Health Communication Campaign.Health communication · 2024Trial
- Effects of Modified Risk Tobacco Product Claims on Consumer Responses.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2024Trial
- Youth and adult understanding of public displays of information about harmful constituents in cigarette smoke.Preventive medicine · 2023Trial
- Designing More Effective Cigar Warnings: An Experiment Among Adult Cigar Smokers.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2022Trial
- Effect of Cigarette Constituent Messages With Engagement Text on Intention to Quit Smoking Among Adults Who Smoke Cigarettes: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2021Trial
- Communicating about chemicals in cigarette smoke: impact on knowledge and misunderstanding.Tobacco control · 2020Trial
- Effects of a Nicotine Fact Sheet on Perceived Risk of Nicotine and E-Cigarettes and Intentions to Seek Information About and Use E-Cigarettes.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Trial
- Sociodemographic and Smoking Characteristics Associated With Low Perceived Harm of "Organic" and "Additive-Free" Tobacco Products Among US Adults.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2025Article
- Decoding consumers' interpretations of 'additive-free' and 'tobacco & water' cigarette advertising claims.Tobacco control · 2025Article
- Messages About Tobacco and Alcohol Co-Users.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2025Article
- Believability of messaging concerning a hypothetical product standard to lower a constituent in cigarettes or smokeless tobacco among U.S. Adults who use tobacco.Preventive medicine reports · 2024Article
- Article
- The Impact of Cannabis Packaging Characteristics on Perceptions and Intentions.American journal of preventive medicine · 2022Article
- Passive smoking and urinary oxidative biomarkers: A pilot study of healthy travelers from Los Angeles to Beijing.International journal of hygiene and environmental health · 2022Article
- Beliefs and Characteristics Associated With Believing Nicotine Causes Cancer: A Descriptive Analysis to Inform Corrective Message Content and Priority Audiences.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2022Article
- The "Organic" Descriptor and Its Association With Commercial Cigarette Health Risk Expectancies, Subjective Effects, and Smoking Topography: A Pilot Human Laboratory Study.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2022Article
- The effect of cigarette modified risk claims and brand on perceived risk, product appeal, and use intentions.PloS one · 2022Article
- Awareness of and reactions to the health harms of sugary drinks: An online study of U.S. parents.Appetite · 2021Article
- Metabolic reprogramming: A driver of cigarette smoke-induced inflammatory lung diseases.Free radical biology & medicine · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
introductionThe Tobacco Control Act requires public disclosure of information about toxic constituents in cigarette smoke. To inform these efforts, we studied public understanding of cigarette smoke constituents.
methodsWe conducted phone surveys with national probability samples of adolescents (n=1125) and adults (n=5014) and an internet survey with a convenience sample of adults (n=4137), all in the USA. We assessed understanding of cigarette smoke constituents in general and of 24 specific constituents.
resultsRespondents commonly and incorrectly believed that harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke mostly originate in additives introduced by cigarette manufacturers (43-72%). Almost all participants had heard that nicotine is in cigarette smoke, and many had also heard about carbon monoxide, ammonia, arsenic and formaldehyde. Less than one-quarter had heard of most other listed constituents being in cigarette smoke. Constituents most likely to discourage respondents from wanting to smoke were ammonia, arsenic, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide, lead and uranium. Respondents more often reported being discouraged by constituents that they had heard are in cigarette smoke (all p<0.05). Constituents with names that started with a number or ended in 'ene' or 'ine' were less likely to discourage people from wanting to smoke (all p<0.05). DISCUSSION: Many people were unaware that burning the cigarette is the primary source of toxic constituents in cigarette smoke. Constituents that may most discourage cigarette smoking have familiar names, like arsenic and formaldehyde and do not start with a number or end in ene/ine. Our findings may help campaign designers develop constituent messages that discourage smoking.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.