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What
is tobacco?
What
we commonly call "tobacco" includes cigarettes,
cigars, loose pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, and snuff. These
products contain the dried, processed leaves of the tobacco
plant nicotiana rustica or nicotiana tabacum.
All tobacco contains nicotine, an addictive drug. Today’s
tobacco also contains thousands of other chemicals designed
to make the products more user-friendly and addictive.
Chemicals
in Tobacco
In
addition to nicotine, cigarette smoke contains over 4,000
different chemicals. The vast majority of these chemicals
are added to the tobacco to add to its addictiveness,
improve its flavor, and/or to increase burn rate, which increases
sales.
Here’s
one example of a chemical added specifically to make tobacco
more addictive:
Ammonia
(one of the 4,000 chemicals placed in cigarettes) is added
solely for the purpose of enhancing the effects of nicotine.
Ammonia added to commercially made cigarettes can boost the
impact of nicotine 100 times. -- (The Washington Post, July
30, 1997)
Following
are some of the categories of chemicals found in each cigarette:
Cancer
Causing Agents
Nitrosamines
Crysenes
Cadmium
Benzo(a)pyrene
Polonium 210
Nickel
P.A.H.s
Dibenz Acidine
B-Napthylamine
Urethane
N. Nitrosonornicotine
Toluidine
Metals
Aluminum
Zinc
Magnesium
Mercury
Gold
Silicon
Silver
Titanium
Lead
Copper
Acetone
Nail Polish Remover
Acetic
Acid
Vinegar
Ammonia
Floor/Toilet Cleaner
Arsenic
Poison
Butane
Cigarette Lighter Fluid
Cadmium
Rechargeable Batteries
Carbon
Monoxide
Car Exhaust Fumes
DDT/Dieldrin
Insecticides
Ethanol
Alcohol
Formaldehyde
Dead Body Preserver
Fabric Preserver
Hexamine
Barbecue Lighter
Hydrogen
Cyanide
Gas Chamber Poison
Methane
Swamp Gas
Methanol
Rocket Fuel
Napthalene
Mothballs
Nicotine
Insecticide
Addictive Drug
Nitrobenzene
Gasoline Additive
Nitrous
Oxide Phenols
Disinfectant
Stearic
Acid
Candle Wax
Toluene
Industrial Solvent
Vinyl
Chloride
Ingredient of PVC
How
are tobacco products different from each other?
Tobacco
products differ mostly in the way they are used and, consequently,
the way they injure users. Cigarettes are the most common form
of tobacco used, but cigars and smokeless tobacco are every
bit as dangerous. All tobacco causes cancer; cigars and cigarettes
most commonly cause lung cancer, but they can lead to a variety
of other cancers, as well. Smokeless
tobacco, on the other hand, mostly causes cancer of the mouth,
throat, and stomach. All tobacco use also leads to heart disease.
All
tobacco contains nicotine, which is a highly addictive drug,
but the different products have different amounts. For example,
one cigar has as much nicotine as almost three packs
of cigarettes. A cigar can contain up to 444 mg of nicotine,
while a cigarette can contain up to 11 mg of nicotine! A pocket-size
packet of smokeless tobacco contains as much nicotine as three
packs of cigarettes. The moister the tobacco, the higher the
nicotine content.
All
tobacco also contains a variety of toxic chemicals. Cigar
smoke has the same poisons and chemicals that cause cancer
as cigarette smoke and contains higher levels of some of those
chemicals. Smokeless tobacco contains formaldehyde, which
is embalming fluid, nitrosamine and benzopyrene, which are
known carcinogens, and Uranium 235 and Polonium 210, both
of which are nuclear products. In all, chewing tobacco (or
spit tobacco) contains at least 28 cancer-causing chemicals!
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