Korea discloses harmful components in 465 tobacco products for first time

South Korea's food and drug safety ministry on Thursday published the first results of testing all 465 tobacco products sold in the country for harmful components, finding first-class carcinogens in every cigarette tested.

The ministry said the tests covered 465 products from 20 manufacturers and importers that were on sale when the Tobacco Harmfulness Management Act took effect: 256 cigarettes, 104 heated tobacco products and 105 liquid-type electronic cigarettes. The act, enacted in October 2023 and in force since Nov. 1, 2025, requires testing and public disclosure of tobacco ingredients under the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Every one of the 256 cigarette products contained nicotine at 0.8 to 2.6 milligrams per stick and tar at 11.7 to 40.4 milligrams, the ministry said. Tests also detected formaldehyde at 39.5 to 181 micrograms, benzene at 19.6 to 99.9 micrograms and cadmium at 15.5 to 320 nanograms, along with a number of other Group 1 carcinogens.

All 104 heated tobacco products contained nicotine at 0.1 to 1.2 milligrams and tar at 10.3 to 32.0 milligrams, according to the results. Formaldehyde was found in all of them at 5.4 to 12.1 micrograms, while the tobacco-specific nitrosamines NNN and NNK were detected in 87 and 88 products respectively and benzo(a)pyrene in one.

In the 105 liquid-type products, nicotine ranged from 5.7 to 20.0 milligrams per gram, and propylene glycol and glycerin were confirmed. Formaldehyde appeared in 99 of the 105 products at 3.0 to 83.8 micrograms, and NNN was found in two products, NNK in one and arsenic in two.

The tests covered 44 components each for cigarettes and heated tobacco and 20 for liquid products, or 46 in total excluding overlaps, the ministry said. The results were obtained using the strengthened trapping method newly registered with the International Organization for Standardization on WHO recommendations, which the ministry cautioned can produce readings higher than the values printed on cigarette packs.

The Tobacco Harmfulness Management Policy Committee, which advises on the policy, said the variety and quantity of harmful components differed by tobacco type and product, but that a low reading for some components should not be taken to mean a product is less harmful.

"This test confirmed the harmful components present in tobacco products and must not be misunderstood as a standard for choosing a less harmful cigarette," the committee said. "It should therefore be understood as scientific evidence that all cigarettes are harmful, and it is important that smokers quit for their health and non-smokers do not start."

The committee added that simple numerical comparisons between product types, and advertising that misleads or deceives consumers through selective excerpts, are subject to legal regulation.

The ministry said synthetic-nicotine tobacco will be subject to testing and disclosure from 2027, and that it will search for harmful components generated only in heated tobacco products and develop test methods for them. Testing of liquid products will be expanded from the liquid itself to the emissions produced when the product is actually used, and the ministry plans to develop a standard e-cigarette device and testing method for that purpose.