Uploaded January 2013 | Updated September 2026, 6 hours ago
The original version of the Kent Micronite cigarette filter used crocidolite, a form of asbestos, from 1952 until at least mid-1956. Kent's manufacturer, P. Lorillard Company, boasted that the filter was made of the same "pure," "safe," "dust-free" substance used to clean air in atomic energy plants and hospital operating rooms, and offered smokers "the greatest health protection ever" in a cigarette. The new brand was introduced with great fanfare in 1952. "The filtering material -- a top wartime secret -- represented the greatest scientific advance ever made in cleansing air of impurities," stated one of the advertisements, prepared by Young & Rubicam. The trade magazine Advertising Age awarded Lorillard its "hard sell" award for the campaign. Other advertisements, including a series placed in the Journal of the American Medical Association and the New England Journal of Medicine, stressed the "health protection" Kents gave. Lorillard set up Kent displays at medical conventions and sent cartons of Kents to thousands of doctors and dentists. Some ads suggested that the A.M.A. had endorsed the Micronite filter, a claim the medical group promptly labeled "a most reprehensible instance of hucksterism." Dr. Harold Knudson was the former vice president and research director of Hollingsworth & Vose. He designed the Micronite filter for Kent cigarettes. This is compiled from two videos from the University of California, San Francisco Tobacco Control Archives Multimedia Collection (archive.org/details/tobaccoarchives ). This collection contains audiotapes and videotapes related to the advertising, manufacturing, marketing, sales, and scientific research of tobacco products as well as materials gathered and produced by tobacco control advocates. For current information, contact ADAO - Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization - an independent organization founded by Linda Reinstein and Doug Larkin in 2004. ADAO seeks to give asbestos victims and concerned citizens a united voice to raise public awareness about the dangers of asbestos exposure. ADAO is an independent global organization dedicated to preventing asbestos-related diseases through education, advocacy and community. ADAO's mission includes supporting global advocacy and advancing asbestos awareness, prevention, early detection, treatment, and resources for asbestos-related disease. For more information visit www.asbestosdiseaseawareness.org.
The original version of the Kent Micronite cigarette filter used crocidolite, a form of asbestos, from 1952 until at least mid-1956. Kent's manufacturer, P. Lorillard Company, boasted that the filter was made of the same "pure," "safe," "dust-free" substance used to clean air in atomic energy plants and hospital operating rooms, and offered smokers "the greatest health protection ever" in a cigarette. The new brand was introduced with great fanfare in 1952. "The filtering material -- a top wartime secret -- represented the greatest scientific advance ever made in cleansing air of impurities," stated one of the advertisements, prepared by Young & Rubicam. The trade magazine Advertising Age awarded Lorillard its "hard sell" award for the campaign. Other advertisements, including a series placed in the Journal of the American Medical Association and the New England Journal of Medicine, stressed the "health protection" Kents gave. Lorillard set up Kent displays at medical conventions and sent cartons of Kents to thousands of doctors and dentists. Some ads suggested that the A.M.A. had endorsed the Micronite filter, a claim the medical group promptly labeled "a most reprehensible instance of hucksterism." Dr. Harold Knudson was the former vice president and research director of Hollingsworth & Vose. He designed the Micronite filter for Kent cigarettes. This is compiled from two videos from the University of California, San Francisco Tobacco Control Archives Multimedia Collection (archive.org/details/tobaccoarchives ). This collection contains audiotapes and videotapes related to the advertising, manufacturing, marketing, sales, and scientific research of tobacco products as well as materials gathered and produced by tobacco control advocates. For current information, contact ADAO - Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization - an independent organization founded by Linda Reinstein and Doug Larkin in 2004. ADAO seeks to give asbestos victims and concerned citizens a united voice to raise public awareness about the dangers of asbestos exposure. ADAO is an independent global organization dedicated to preventing asbestos-related diseases through education, advocacy and community. ADAO's mission includes supporting global advocacy and advancing asbestos awareness, prevention, early detection, treatment, and resources for asbestos-related disease. For more information visit www.asbestosdiseaseawareness.org.
