How Much Nicotine Is in a Camel? Blue, Filters, Non-Filter

In a peer-reviewed lab study published in 1998, a Camel cigarette held 9.5 mg (Camel Filters) to 10.3 mg (Camel Lights) of nicotine in its tobacco. The amount a smoking machine collects from the smoke is much lower: 0.4 mg to 1.7 mg across Camel styles in the Federal Trade Commission's 1998 data, with Camel Non-Filter the highest. Newer CDC lab work measured 20.1 mg of nicotine per gram of tobacco in Camel Blue and 19.4 mg per gram in Camel Filters. For every major brand side by side, see our cigarette nicotine chart by brand.

Nicotine content vs. nicotine yield

You will see two very different numbers for the same cigarette, and they measure different things.

Nicotine content is the total nicotine in the unsmoked tobacco. A lab pulls the tobacco out of the paper and tests it. It is reported either per cigarette (mg) or per gram of tobacco (mg/g). In the 1998 Kozlowski study, US brands averaged 10.2 mg of nicotine per cigarette, ranging from 7.2 to 13.4 mg.

Nicotine yield is how much nicotine a smoking machine collects from the smoke under a fixed test. Under the FTC method, the machine takes standard puffs with the filter vents left open. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health designed a tougher test: bigger puffs, taken twice as often, with half the filter vents covered. That test produced nicotine yields about twice as high as the FTC's.

Neither number tells you exactly what you take in. That depends on how you smoke. The FTC said so in its own report: people who smoke lower-rated cigarettes may smoke them harder, so the ratings may not reflect what smokers actually get.

Camel nicotine by style

Nicotine in the tobacco (content)

Per-cigarette and per-gram numbers can't be compared directly. The total depends on how much tobacco is in the stick. The CDC picked its brands using 2010 market share and published its results in 2017.

Nicotine in the smoke (FTC machine yield)

Source: FTC report on cigarettes sold in 1998 (issued 2000). Standard FTC method. All styles are king size unless noted otherwise.

*The FTC lists two varieties under this name and pack, at 1.1 mg and 1.2 mg. The 2010 renames come from Connolly and Alpert, 2014. A dash means the style was not a "Lights" style, so the 2010 descriptor ban did not cover it.

Under the tougher Massachusetts test, Camel Non-Filter reached a 2.9 mg nicotine yield in 1998. That tied it for the highest of any cigarette reported to the state that year. It measured 3.0 mg in 2004 (Massachusetts DPH, 1998–2004 report).

We could not find independent lab numbers for the Camel Turkish styles, so they are left out rather than estimated.

Why Camel Lights had less nicotine in the smoke, not in the tobacco

The 1998 Kozlowski data make the point clearly. Camel Lights had 10.3 mg of nicotine in the tobacco and Camel Filters had 9.5 mg. Yet the Lights yielded less nicotine on the FTC machine: 0.8 mg vs. 1.1 mg in the FTC figures the study used, which were for 1995 cigarettes. The difference was filter ventilation: tiny holes in the filter that mix outside air into each puff. The Lights measured 22.3% ventilation. Camel Filters measured 5.1%.

The Massachusetts 1997 report found the same pattern across the market. It saw no significant difference in nicotine content between regular, "light" and "ultra-light" cigarettes. Ventilation, not the tobacco, was what defined the lighter styles. When smokers' lips or fingers cover those vents, less air gets in and more smoke does. The CDC's later numbers fit this too: Camel Blue (20.1 mg/g) was no lower than Camel Filters (19.4 mg/g).

For more on how this works across brands, see how much nicotine is in a light cigarette.

The 2010 rename: Camel Lights became Camel Blue

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act became law on June 23, 2009. Its Section 911 banned "light," "mild" and "low" descriptors on tobacco products, starting June 22, 2010, unless the FDA issues an order allowing them. According to Connolly and Alpert, R.J. Reynolds used "Blue" for its Camel Lights styles and "Silver" for its Ultra Lights styles. Marlboro made the same kind of switch, with Lights becoming Gold.

The researchers found that filter ventilation in the new color-named styles lined up with the old Lights categories. In their 2011 survey, 92% of smokers said they could easily identify their usual brand after the ban, and sales of former Lights cigarettes held steady. The FDA is direct about the health side: it says people who smoke light cigarettes do not lower their risk of smoking-related cancers and other diseases.

Camel cigarettes vs. Camel Snus

Camel Snus shares the name and nothing else that matters here. It is a smokeless tobacco pouch. You don't light it, so tar and smoke-yield numbers like the ones above don't apply. If you searched "Camel nicotine" and meant the pouches, see our Camel Snus guide.

How Camel compares with other brands

In the CDC's test of 50 top-selling cigarettes, Camel Filters (19.4 mg/g) and Camel Blue (20.1 mg/g) landed mid-pack. Marlboro Red king hard pack measured 20.3 mg/g. Natural American Spirit was the highest, at 26.3 mg/g. For brand-by-brand charts, see nicotine in a cigarette by brand, nicotine in a Marlboro cigarette and American Spirit nicotine content.

Frequently asked questions

How much nicotine is in a Camel Blue?

The CDC measured 20.1 mg of nicotine per gram of tobacco in Camel Blue king hard packs. Back when it was sold as Camel Lights, a 1998 study measured 10.3 mg of nicotine per cigarette. The FTC's 1998 machine yield was 0.8 mg (hard pack) or 0.9 mg (soft pack). We found no published US machine yield for Camel Blue under its current name.

Is Camel Blue the same as Camel Lights?

Camel Blue is the name R.J. Reynolds used for its Camel Lights styles after the 2010 federal ban on "light" labels (Connolly and Alpert, 2014). The Ultra Lights styles became Camel Silver.

Which Camel cigarette has the most nicotine?

In the data we found, Camel Non-Filter. It had the highest FTC yield of any Camel style in 1998 (1.7 mg, with 25 mg of tar). Under the Massachusetts test it reached 2.9 mg in 1998 and 3.0 mg in 2004.

Do Camels have more nicotine than Marlboros?

They are close. In the CDC's study, Camel Filters (19.4 mg/g) and Camel Blue (20.1 mg/g) were in the same range as Marlboro Red (20.3 mg/g) and Marlboro Gold (19.5 mg/g) king hard packs. A smaller study of cigarettes bought in 2018 found the Marlboro styles it tested averaged 17.3 mg/g and the Camel styles averaged 15.8 mg/g, a statistically significant gap.

How much nicotine do you get from one Camel cigarette?

It depends on how you smoke. On the FTC machine, Camel styles yielded 0.4 to 1.7 mg in 1998. The Massachusetts test, which uses bigger, more frequent puffs, found yields about twice as high as the FTC's. Across the 116 cigarette styles Massachusetts tracked from 1998 to 2004, the average yield under that test was 1.89 mg in 2004. If you're trying to line a cigarette up against a product labeled in milligrams, see 6 mg of nicotine equals how many cigarettes.

Sources

• FTC, "Tar," Nicotine, and Carbon Monoxide of the Smoke of 1294 Varieties of Domestic Cigarettes for the Year 1998 (issued 2000) — https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2000-report-tar-nicotine-and-carbon-monoxide-covering-1998/1998tarnicotinereport_0.pdf

• Kozlowski LT et al., Filter ventilation and nicotine content of tobacco in cigarettes from Canada, the UK, and the US, Tobacco Control 1998;7:369-375 — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1751464/

• Lawler TS et al. (CDC), Surveillance of Nicotine and pH in Cigarette and Cigar Filler, Tobacco Regulatory Science 2017;3(Suppl 1):101-116 — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5628511/

• Schneller LM et al., Menthol, Nicotine, and Flavoring Content of Capsule Cigarettes in the US, Tobacco Regulatory Science 2020;6(3):196-204 — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8114906/

• Massachusetts DPH, 1997 Cigarette Nicotine Disclosure Report (issued Jan 1998) — http://hdl.handle.net/2452/50461

• Massachusetts DPH Tobacco Control Program, Changes in Nicotine Yield: 1998-2004 — https://www.mass.gov/doc/report-changes-in-nicotine-yield-1998-2004-0/download

• Connolly GN, Alpert HR, Has the tobacco industry evaded the FDA's ban on "Light" cigarette descriptors?, Tobacco Control 2014;23:140-145 — https://dash.harvard.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/7312037d-131a-6bd4-e053-0100007fdf3b/content

• FDA, "Light," "Low," "Mild" or Similar Descriptors — https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/labeling-and-warning-statements-tobacco-products/light-low-mild-or-similar-descriptors

A note from BRST

BRST is a 2mg peppermint melt that dissolves under the tongue. It is not a cigarette, not snus, and not FDA-approved nicotine replacement therapy. To see how a melt differs from gum, lozenges and pouches, read nicotine tablet vs. gum, lozenge and pouch. Adults 21+. Nicotine is addictive.

Which Camel style were you looking up, and was its number higher or lower than you expected?