The following images are meant to display visual proof of what happens when a cigarette or one of these cigars is smoked. In addition, I used the Vreeland Spectroscope to determine if Thallium is present in the tobacco and filter. The results were very surprising. In addition, I wish to note that what is presented here is not meant to suggest that a person should or should not smoke tobacco products. 

A cigarette sized (100 mm) filtered cigar.

This cut in half view shows tobacco and a clean white filter.
Normally cigars are full tobacco leafs wound around other tobacco leaves that make-up the cigar. This image shows that only fragments of tobacco leaves, which, in my opinion is like any cigarette. So, I am left speculating as to why this tobacco product is called a cigar? Perhaps the designation of cigar is due to slightly larger pieces of tobacco leaves?
In my studies of the various brands of cigarettes I found two fundamental and consistent realities, which are – 1) the tobacco in major brand cigarettes is smaller pieces and are not as tightly packed as are these so-called cigars, and 2) the filters of cigarettes are less dense than this cigar. Consequently, cigarettes burn faster, thereby causing the user to use more of the product and ingest more of the smoke. A third difference seems to be that major brand  cigarettes place all kinds of chemical additives in the tobacco, whereas I cannot find much evidence that these cigars are also loaded with similar chemicals.

10x – where the filter and tobacco meet

An additional unused filter is attached (scotch tape) to the end of existing filter to see what differences may occur when the cigar is smoked in a normal manner.

The smoked cigarette sized filtered cigar with the additional filter that is taped onto the end of the existing filter.

A cut-away view of the cigarette sized filtered cigar, illustrating the contamination from end to end of filters. Essentially there is very little difference between these two filters. This image provides evidence that the additional filter filters more of the smoke particles that normally would be in the mouth/lings of the smoker.

10x – This microscopic image clearly shows where the burned tobacco and filter meet.

This image portrays a normal cigarette sized filtered cigar and the additional taped-on filter, which essentially shows no significant change in amount of captured smoke particles. This suggests that the smoke passing through the original filter is almost as potent as the smoke leaving the attached filter, which further suggests that although a filter is better than no filter a significant amount of smokes escapes the filter. Therefore, when I smoke, even though I have long-ago quit inhaling the smoke is still contaminating my mouth membranes and saliva. Thus, I continue to expose myself to the thallium present in these filtered cigars.

10x – showing the splicing of the two filters

The Vreeland spectroscope proved beyond a doubt that Thallium is present in what I consider to be alarming amounts in all tested cigarettes and cigars.

Obviously, the only logical conclusion of this simple test is that although the filter catches some of the tobacco smoke there remains way too much smoke that escapes the filter(s) which contaminates the mouth, throat and lungs. The smoke that accumulates on the membranes of the mouth is eventually bathed in saliva and then swallowed thereby contaminating the entire gastric/intestinal tract.

Cigarettes (tobacco products) are often referred to as cancer sticks or coffin nails. The claim is that nicotine is the culprit for the poor health of long-term smokers. Be this as it may, I am left wondering why those who despise smoking, including government agencies have not and are not mentioning the abundance of Thallium in these tobacco products? So, is it nicotine or thallium that causes cancer and ill health? Another question that bothers me is – how long has thallium contaminated tobacco products and is this a recent phenomenon or has thallium always contaminated tobacco?

Sometimes I hear friends tell me how awful smoking is to my health, to which I must agree. The other side of this same issue is I am forced to breath the fire place smoke of neighbors burning their cut-down trees, which I checked with the spectroscope and found an alarming presence of thallium. 

Some of my research indicates that foreign and domestic tobacco and many food crops are often grown near cement and power plants, both of which are said by experts to significantly increase the amount of thallium that pollutes downwind land areas. If this is a reality then why hasn’t the environmental community been screaming about this threat to both tobacco and vegetables that we casually buy at the grocery stores?