Asbestos Cigarette Filters

What Types of Cigarette Filters Contain Asbestos?

In 1952, the Lorillard Tobacco Company launched its Kent Micronite brand of filtered cigarettes. Each Micronite filter contained about 25% to 30% asbestos. These filters used compressed crocidolite fibers inside crimped crepe paper.

Crocidolite is a kind of asbestos with shorter, thinner and more brittle fibers than chrysotile asbestos —  the type used in most asbestos products. No type of asbestos is safe, but because crocidolite fibers are so fine, they’re potentially even more hazardous than chrysotile. Of the 6 commercial types of asbestos, crocidolite is generally considered the most hazardous.

The company stopped making Kent Micronite filters in 1957, but not because of any concern over its customers’ health. Smokers didn’t care for the taste of the cigarettes and complained that the filter made inhaling too difficult. In fact, even though the company learned that asbestos particles were leaking into the cigarettes’ smoke in 1954, it didn’t tell the public until nearly 2 years (and 4 billion cigarettes sold) later.

Companies That Made Asbestos Cigarette Filters

Even though several asbestos manufacturers considered developing asbestos cigarette filters — Reynolds Metal Co. even filed a patent for a similar product — only 1 company actually took the idea to market: the Lorillard Tobacco Company. From 1952 to 1956, Lorillard produced at least 12 billion cigarettes with asbestos filters.

Another manufacturer, Hollingsworth & Vose Company, produced the asbestos filters that Lorillard used for its Kent Micronite brand. H&V also held the patent for the filter’s design. The manufacturing process was especially hazardous to plant employees because it involved mixing dry asbestos with other fibers. This filled the work environment with airborne asbestos dust.

In 2014, Reynolds American Inc., a tobacco company that also owns cigarette brands such as Camel, Kodiak, and Newport, acquired Lorillard. A newly formed subsidiary, RJR Tobacco, is now responsible for all asbestos lawsuits connected to Lorillard’s Kent cigarettes. This means that patients or surviving family members can still seek compensation for medical costs, pain and suffering and other damages.

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Health Risks of Asbestos in Cigarette Filters

Any exposure to asbestos in cigarette filters significantly increases the risk of developing life-threatening respiratory illnesses, including mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis. Asbestos is the primary cause of pleural mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive cancer.

Asbestos fibers traveled from the cigarette filter into smokers’ lungs with every puff. Even worse, Micronite cigarettes required a “deep draw,” so smokers had to inhale especially hard. This means the dangerous smoke traveled deep into the person’s lung tissue.

Illnesses Linked to Asbestos Cigarette Filters

• Asbestosis
• Laryngeal cancer
• Lung cancer
• Mesothelioma
• Ovarian cancer

Smokers who inhaled asbestos fibers are 50 times more likely to develop lung cancer. In fact, the risk of developing lung cancer from asbestos exposure and cigarette smoking together is exponentially higher than other types of exposure. This “synergistic” effect doesn’t increase your risk of mesothelioma, however.

An internal memo from asbestos company Union Carbide‘s associate medical director shows that, even in the 1970s, industry experts knew how dangerous it was to combine asbestos and other toxins from cigarettes. But Dr. Carl Dernehl, the company’s former toxicologist, tried to focus on cigarette smoking as the primary cause of cancer, not asbestos exposure in this statement: “It has been demonstrated that asbestos workers in the United States apparently do not develop cancer of the lung unless they also smoke cigarettes. So you have here a situation in which an individual is exposed to asbestos and cigarette smoke at the same time. The implications for developing cancer of the lung are obvious.”

Who Is at Risk From Asbestos Cigarette Filters?

Anyone who smoked Kent Micronite cigarettes between 1952 and 1956 was exposed to asbestos. One study revealed that smoking a pack of Kent Micronite cigarettes every day for a year would expose a smoker to 131 million carcinogenic crocidolite fibers. The study only analyzed the amount contained in 2 puffs per cigarette, so the actual amount of asbestos the average smoker inhaled was likely much greater.

Like conventional cigarettes, Kent Micronite asbestos cigarette filters also caused secondary exposure. Secondhand smoke contained asbestos particles that put spouses, children, friends, co-workers and even strangers at risk. Factory workers could unknowingly bring asbestos dust home on their clothing, exposing family members to the toxic fibers.

People at Risk of Asbestos Exposure From Cigarette Filters

• Consumers who smoked Kent cigarettes between 1952 and 1956
• Contractors who performed work in contaminated areas, such as plumbers and electricians
• Workers employed at H&V in West Groton or Rochdale, Massachusetts
• Workers employed at the Lorillard Tobacco Company factories in Jersey City, New Jersey, or Louisville, Kentucky

H&V factory workers who produced Micronite filters suffered the worst asbestos exposure because they labored in constantly contaminated conditions, often cutting open and handling large burlap bags of raw crocidolite asbestos fibers. A study of 33 laborers from the H&V filter factory found 28 of the workers later died from asbestos-related diseases, including asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma.

Kent manufacturing plant workers who directly handled Micronite filters were at a high risk of asbestos exposure, but they weren’t the only employees impacted. Asbestos in the air could easily affect supervisors, maintenance personnel, equipment technicians and others. According to court records, more than 34 former Lorillard employees working at the company’s New Jersey and Kentucky factories eventually developed mesothelioma.

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Compensation for Exposure to Asbestos in Cigarette Filters

Experienced mesothelioma lawyers have helped many patients file legal claims in asbestos product liability cases. Compensation can help cover medical bills, treatment and ongoing care.

Some jury verdicts in asbestos filter cases have also provided awards for pain and suffering. If asbestos exposure at work led to the death of a loved one, you may still be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit. 

Notable Asbestos Cigarette Filter Lawsuits and Settlements

• $8,000,000: In 2018, the Florida Supreme Court ruled in favor of Richard DeLisle, a U.S. Veteran who smoked Kent Micronite cigarettes for years. The jury verdict held Lorillard 22% responsible and H&V 22% responsible for DeLisle’s mesothelioma.
• $3,750,000: In 2017, a California appeals court sided with Tajie Major against Lorillard and other tobacco companies in a wrongful death claim. William Major, Tajie’s husband, died from lung cancer in 1998, and a jury found Lorillard 17% responsible for damages.
• $1,400,000: Donat Lenney was awarded nearly $1.4 million in a 2011 mesothelioma lawsuit. Lenney smoked Kent Micronite cigarettes from 1953 to 1956 because Lorillard’s advertising led him to believe that the asbestos filters were the safe choice.

Former customers and employees who developed asbestos-related diseases because of Kent Micronite filters have filed hundreds of lawsuits. Since 2014, Lorillard and RJR Tobacco have paid more than $40 million in asbestos compensation to settle with them. Just between 2021 and 2023, the company paid out more than $21 million to resolve approximately 90 asbestos lawsuits.

In cases involving asbestos in Lorillard’s cigarette filters, it’s common for patients to take multiple tobacco companies or asbestos product manufacturers to court at the same time. An asbestos lawyer can help you identify possible sources of exposure and gather the necessary evidence.

What Can You Do About Exposure to Asbestos Cigarette Products?

If you believe that smoking Kent cigarettes exposed you to asbestos, you should see a pulmonologist and tell them about your asbestos exposure history. Doctors often recommend annual chest X-rays to look for signs of developing lung cancer or mesothelioma.

Annual cancer screenings can also be important for surviving family members who lived with a person who smoked Kent cigarettes or worked with asbestos. Catching asbestos-related cancers early can improve treatment outcomes.

It’s important to find a specialist if you’re diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease because treatment is highly specialized. An expert can tailor treatment to your unique case.

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