What makes cigarettes really harmful is the cigarette smoke, which contains 7,000 chemicals produced when the cigarette is burned. This is what turns a seemingly plain stick of tobacco into the notoriously addictive and harmful substance that we know cigarettes to be.
Every stick of cigarette contains about 600 ingredients that when burned produces about 7,000 different chemicals, most of which are poisonous, with 69 of them known to cause cancer. Most of these chemicals are actually found in things like insecticides, lighter fluid, battery acid, mothballs, and our pavements. So, if you consider insecticides harmful, then imagine how much harmful cigarettes are. Together, all these chemicals can cause damage to almost every organ in the human body from our lungs down to our reproductive organs. And it has also been directly linked with deadly diseases like cancer and heart disease.
Perhaps the most dangerous substance found in cigarette smoke is carbon monoxide. Given that in most cases of fire, it's actually smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning that kills victims and not the fire itself, then you can see why the cigarette smoke produced when smoking, which also contains carbon monoxide, is really harmful to health.
However, to make things worse, cigarettes don't just harm the person smoking. What really makes them dangerous is the harm it could cause through second hand smoke, which affects the people around the smoker, and through third hand smoke, which affects even those who don't directly come in contact with smokers.
Studies have shown that second-hand smoke actually exposes non-smokers to the same chemicals as the smoker, himself. It's actually worse, because there are more toxins in the burning end of the cigarette, than the filtered end that smokers use. Third-hand smoke is just as bad. They may contain only about 250 chemicals that are harmful to health, but they can cause damage longer because it seeps into curtains, rugs, furniture, and every porous surface of your house or car and can be especially harmful to children.
Tobacco smoke contains many chemicals that are harmful to both smokers and nonsmokers. Breathing even a little tobacco smoke can be harmful.
Of the more than 7,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, at least 250 are known to be harmful, including hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, and ammonia.
Smoking is highly addictive. Nicotine is the drug primarily responsible for a person’s addiction to tobacco products, including cigarettes. The addiction to cigarettes and other tobacco products that nicotine causes is similar to the addiction produced by using drugs such as heroin and cocaine. Nicotine is present naturally in the tobacco plant. But tobacco companies intentionally design cigarettes to have enough nicotine to create and sustain addiction.
The amount of nicotine that gets into the body is determined by the way a person smokes a tobacco product and by the nicotine content and design of the product. Nicotine is absorbed into the bloodstream through the lining of the mouth and the lungs and travels to the brain in a matter of seconds. Taking more frequent and deeper puffs of tobacco smoke increases the amount of nicotine absorbed by the body.
In conclusion, its the nicotine which pull a smoker to continue in that habit. The nicotine is what makes the cigarette harmful and ofcourse in addition with the 69 other chemicals which cause cancer.
Nicotine, chemicals used to flavor, but especially tar.
While it is known that many of the chemicals can be addictive, tar is said to be the reason of most negative effects of smoking. That also because it isn’t always easy to determine what exactly is contained in tar(1).
What is Tar?
Tar is that dark “gooey” mass, grease which leaves most marks in cigarette filters. Tar often includes known carcinogens benzene, acrylamide, and acrylonitrile. These are highly damaging to the human body’s lung and may lead to lung cancer.
Tar also causes inflammation inside the lungs, activating the immunit system. Continued and sustained exposition to tar will eventually break down lung tissue due to the constant activity of immune cells in the lung and may lead to emphysema. Emphysema which lead to a highly inefficient pulmonary system with less oxygen absorption.
Tar, especially when combined with high cholesterol, can also form plaques on the walls of arteries, which can increase the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). When a human has high cholesterol and also smokes, tar and cholesterol combine to a chemical reaction which increases the likelihood of those plaques and thus possible CAD.
(1) Tobacco leaves themselves, like any plant, are highly complex “brews”, consisting of multiple chemical components.
What makes cigarettes really harmful is the cigarette smoke, which contains 7,000 chemicals produced when the cigarette is burned. This is what turns a seemingly plain stick of tobacco into the notoriously addictive and harmful substance that we know cigarettes to be.
Every stick of cigarette contains about 600 ingredients that when burned produces about 7,000 different chemicals, most of which are poisonous, with 69 of them known to cause cancer. Most of these chemicals are actually found in things like insecticides, lighter fluid, battery acid, mothballs, and our pavements. So, if you consider insecticides harmful, then imagine how much harmful cigarettes are. Together, all these chemicals can cause damage to almost every organ in the human body from our lungs down to our reproductive organs. And it has also been directly linked with deadly diseases like cancer and heart disease.
Perhaps the most dangerous substance found in cigarette smoke is carbon monoxide. Given that in most cases of fire, it's actually smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning that kills victims and not the fire itself, then you can see why the cigarette smoke produced when smoking, which also contains carbon monoxide, is really harmful to health.
However, to make things worse, cigarettes don't just harm the person smoking. What really makes them dangerous is the harm it could cause through second hand smoke, which affects the people around the smoker, and through third hand smoke, which affects even those who don't directly come in contact with smokers.
Studies have shown that second-hand smoke actually exposes non-smokers to the same chemicals as the smoker, himself. It's actually worse, because there are more toxins in the burning end of the cigarette, than the filtered end that smokers use. Third-hand smoke is just as bad. They may contain only about 250 chemicals that are harmful to health, but they can cause damage longer because it seeps into curtains, rugs, furniture, and every porous surface of your house or car and can be especially harmful to children.
Hope this helps.
Sources:
View this answer on Musing.io
View this answer on Musing.io
Tobacco smoke contains many chemicals that are harmful to both smokers and nonsmokers. Breathing even a little tobacco smoke can be harmful.
Of the more than 7,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, at least 250 are known to be harmful, including hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, and ammonia.
Smoking is highly addictive. Nicotine is the drug primarily responsible for a person’s addiction to tobacco products, including cigarettes. The addiction to cigarettes and other tobacco products that nicotine causes is similar to the addiction produced by using drugs such as heroin and cocaine. Nicotine is present naturally in the tobacco plant. But tobacco companies intentionally design cigarettes to have enough nicotine to create and sustain addiction.
The amount of nicotine that gets into the body is determined by the way a person smokes a tobacco product and by the nicotine content and design of the product. Nicotine is absorbed into the bloodstream through the lining of the mouth and the lungs and travels to the brain in a matter of seconds. Taking more frequent and deeper puffs of tobacco smoke increases the amount of nicotine absorbed by the body.
In conclusion, its the nicotine which pull a smoker to continue in that habit. The nicotine is what makes the cigarette harmful and ofcourse in addition with the 69 other chemicals which cause cancer.
Nicotine, chemicals used to flavor, but especially tar.
While it is known that many of the chemicals can be addictive, tar is said to be the reason of most negative effects of smoking. That also because it isn’t always easy to determine what exactly is contained in tar(1).
What is Tar?
Tar is that dark “gooey” mass, grease which leaves most marks in cigarette filters. Tar often includes known carcinogens benzene, acrylamide, and acrylonitrile. These are highly damaging to the human body’s lung and may lead to lung cancer.
Tar also causes inflammation inside the lungs, activating the immunit system. Continued and sustained exposition to tar will eventually break down lung tissue due to the constant activity of immune cells in the lung and may lead to emphysema. Emphysema which lead to a highly inefficient pulmonary system with less oxygen absorption.
Tar, especially when combined with high cholesterol, can also form plaques on the walls of arteries, which can increase the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). When a human has high cholesterol and also smokes, tar and cholesterol combine to a chemical reaction which increases the likelihood of those plaques and thus possible CAD.
(1) Tobacco leaves themselves, like any plant, are highly complex “brews”, consisting of multiple chemical components.