 Today I'm publishing the laboratory test results that document the levels of lead, cadmium, arsenic and aluminum found in popular cigarettes and cigarette rolling paper. The good news is that the concentrations of metals are very low in the rolling paper. Below, a series of graphics show the cigarette heavy metals lab testing results as well as microscopy photos of cigarette materials and cigarette filters. (I conducted the ICP-MS research and took the microscopy photos myself.) BACKGROUND: As selfnews readers know, I'm the science lab director of the selfnews Forensic Food Lab , where we run an Agilent 7700x ICP-MS instrument capable of detecting heavy metals down to parts per billion concentrations. I was the first researcher in the world to document the heavy metals capturing potential of common foods , and the first to document the heavy metal tungsten in rice protein products . I am the developer and patent holder of Cesium Eliminator , a dietary supplement that binds with radioactive isotopes, and Heavy Metals Defense , a dietary supplement that binds with toxic heavy metals during digestion. I am also the creator of the Low Heavy Metals Verified standard that we use to validate the cleanliness of all the products sold at the selfnews Store The selfnews Forensic Food Lab operates under ISO 17025 quality rules, with international accreditation pending. Over the last year or so, I've used the instrument to test protein powders, nutritional supplements, medicinal herbs, fast food and much more. But now, we're putting this technology to a different use and testing cigarettes, tattoo ink, skin whiteners, cosmetics and other consumable products to determine their heavy metal concentrations. Heavy metals lab test results for American Spirit, Marlboro, Pall Mall, Camel and Winston cigarettes The big story here is that there is significant lead in all the cigarettes we tested . In fact, there's more lead in cigarettes than the lead we found in most brands of rice protein in our widely-publicized research from last year . This is especially concerning because cigarette smoke is inhaled into the lungs, providing a direct pathway into the bloodstream. Our tests focused on the heavy metals concentrations of the tobacco leaf in each cigarette. We were not able to account for the ability of cigarette filters to remove toxic heavy metals from the inhalation stream, but it is logical and reasonable to assume that cigarette filters may remove some portion of heavy metals from the inhaled smoke . We are actively looking for a way to test the concentration of heavy metals removed by filtration vs. those that are inhaled by the smoker. The numbers you see here represent the concentrations of heavy metals in the cigarette itself , and these numbers are accurate within plus or minus 10%. (See microscopy photos below...) Lead found in popular cigarettes and rolling papers Numbers represent parts per billion . Divide by 1,000 to get parts per million. American Spirit (Mellow) 308 American Spirit (Full Bodied) 466 Camel (Filtered) 606 Camel (Blue) 415 Pall Mall (Red) 511 Pall Mall (Blue) 526 Marlboro (Filtered) 496 Marlboro (Gold) 483 Newport 439 Winston (Gold) 421 Winston (Red) 472 Rolling papers: (Notice how these numbers are significantly lower? Rolling papers are significantly cleaner than cigarettes.) Bob Marley Hemp Rolling Papers 189 300's Raw Hemp Rolling Paper 142 Top Rolling Papers 76 Cadmium found in popular cigarettes and rolling papers Numbers represent parts per billion . Divide by 1,000 to get parts per million. American Spirit (Mellow) 1086 American Spirit (Full Bodied) 1432 Camel (Filtered) 1152 Camel (Blue) 998 Pall Mall (Red) 917 Pall Mall (Blue) 927 Marlboro (Filtered) 935 Marlboro (Gold) 1041 Newport 1032 Winston (Gold) 966 Winston (Red) 1089 Rolling papers: (Notice how these numbers are significantly lower? Rolling papers are significantly cleaner than cigarettes.) Bob Marley Hemp Rolling Papers 4 300's Raw Hemp Rolling Paper 14 Top Rolling Papers 22 Arsenic found in popular cigarettes and rolling papers Numbers represent parts per billion . Divide by 1,000 to get parts per million. American Spirit (Mellow) 226 American Spirit (Full Bodied) 337 Camel (Filtered) 294 Camel (Blue) 249 Pall Mall (Red) 339 Pall Mall (Blue) 222 Marlboro (Filtered) 321 Marlboro (Gold) 329 Newport 238 Winston (Gold) 174 Winston (Red) 216 Rolling papers: (Notice how these numbers are significantly lower? Rolling papers are significantly cleaner than cigarettes.) Bob Marley Hemp Rolling Papers 0 300's Raw Hemp Rolling Paper 15 Top Rolling Papers 43 Aluminum found in popular cigarettes and rolling papers Numbers represent parts per billion . Divide by 1,000 to get parts per million. American Spirit (Mellow) 125717 American Spirit (Full Bodied) 246938 Camel (Filtered) 257907 Camel (Blue) 210734 Pall Mall (Red) 249931 Pall Mall (Blue) 228245 Marlboro (Filtered) 227508 Marlboro (Gold) 230400 Newport 225380 Winston (Gold) 186413 Winston (Red) 244375 Rolling papers: (Notice how these numbers are significantly lower? Rolling papers are significantly cleaner than cigarettes.) Bob Marley Hemp Rolling Papers 68870 300's Raw Hemp Rolling Paper 14384 Top Rolling Papers 37676 Photos of cigarette tobacco American Spirit cigarettes: American Spirit tobacco at 50X American Spirit tobacco at 200X Marlboro cigarettes: Marlboro tobacco at 20X: Marlboro tobacco at 50X: Marlboro tobacco at 100X: Marlboro tobacco at 200X: Bob Marley cigarette paper: Bob Marley cigarette paper at 50X: Bob Marley cigarette paper at 200X: (looks pretty amazing!) By comparison, here's a microscopy photo of a common paper napkin: And a piece of toilet paper: Marlboro cigarette filter at 20X: Marlboro cigarette filter at 50X: Marlboro cigarette filter at 100X: Marlboro cigarette filter at 200X: Lot numbers of cigarettes tested American Spirit (Mellow) 8141 American Spirit (Full Bodied) 345135 Camel (Filtered) 2AK3HX1 Camel (Blue) 42A4JE9 Pall Mall (Red) 4FH3ZI0 Pall Mall (Blue) 31H3TA4 Marlboro (Filtered) V280X31B1 Marlboro (Gold) V013Y41A3 Newport 4B28 Winston (Gold) FSCA424A4XP8 Winston (Red) FSCK32Fk3ZM1 Quit smoking now Anyone wanting to quit smoking should check out the popular program 14 and Out . It's the best program I know of to help you break the nicotine addiction and quit smoking for life. It was created by a former smoking addict who kicked the habit himself and has now helped thousands of others do the same thing. Learn more: selfnews Forensic Food Lab Forensic Food Lab videos with the Health Ranger The Consumer Wellness Center 14 and Out 