Researchers were able to reduce the amount of cancer causing free radicals that usually pass through cigarette filters, using natural antioxidant lycopene and grape seed extracts, published in the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE)

"The implications of this technique can help reduce the hazardous effects of tobacco smoke," said Dr. Boris Dzilkovski, Research Associate at Cornell University Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology Baker Laboratory and Advance Center for ESR Technology, who co-authored the paper.

Researcher pointed out "free radicals are a major group of carcinogens."

Previous methods using haemoglobin and activated carbon have shown great reduction in free radicals but due to expensive cost, were not introduced into the market

The new study "could lead to a less harmful cigarette" said Dr. Aaron Kolski-Andreaco, JoVE Content Director.

A video of the process can be seen in the link below:

http://www.jove.com/video/3406/a-protocol-for-detecting-and-scavenging-gas-phase-free-radicals-in-mainstream-cigarette-smoke