Smoking: The Poisons and Toxins, Effects, and Resources

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There is a popular thought that cigarettes contain 200 known poisons. While cigarettes do indeed have many poisonous and cancer-causing substances among the 600 or so ingredients used to manufacture them, it is not true that there are 200 of them. What is true is that when the ingredients in a cigarette are burned, they create at least 4,000 chemicals. Anywhere from 40 to 70 of those chemicals are known to be poisonous and/or cancer-causing. Across the world, smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death. In America, smoking is responsible for about 393,000 deaths every year.

Here are some of the better-known poisons and carcinogens found in cigarette smoke, along with examples of how those same chemicals are most often used: acetone (nail polish remover), acetic acid (hair dye), ammonia (window cleaner), arsenic (rat poison), benzene (rubber cement), butane (lighter fluid), cadmium (battery acid), carbon monoxide (car exhaust), formaldehyde (embalming fluid), hexamine (lighter fluid), hydrogen cyanide (poison gas), lead (batteries), naphthalene (mothballs), methanol (rocket fuel), nicotine (insecticide), tar (road paving), toluene (paint) and vinyl chloride (used to make PVC plastic).

How do These Chemicals Harm the Body

There are many ways in which these chemicals harm the human body. For instance, tar sticks to the lungs and turns them black. Carbon monoxide interferes with the functioning of the respiratory and circulatory systems. Just a couple of drops of nicotine, in its pure form, could kill a person. Benzene is linked to leukemia, while formaldehyde causes gastric and respiratory problems. Hydrogen cyanide causes dizziness, nausea and headaches. Long-term exposure to cadmium is suspected of causing prostate and lung cancer as well as kidney disease. Lead damages the brain, kidneys, nerves and red blood cells. Mercury is thought to be responsible for memory loss, shakiness and kidney disease. Nickel, another chemical in cigarette smoke, makes people more susceptible to lung infections.

Even tobacco, the leafy main ingredient of cigarettes, is more harmful than one might think. This is because tobacco is grown using many poisonous chemical insecticides and fertilizers. In addition, the leaves may be dried using direct heat, a process that increases the amount of nitrosamines in the tobacco. Nitrosamine, a known carcinogen, is found in particularly high levels in American-made cigarettes as opposed to cigarettes produced in other countries, according to new research from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Why do Cigarettes Contain so Many Chemicals?

Why do cigarettes contain so many ingredients? Mainly it’s because tobacco on its own does not burn well and gives off a bitter flavor. Many popular cigarette brands contain flavor enhancers such as sugar, licorice and cocoa. When they are burned, licorice and cocoa dilate (enlarge) breathing passages in the lungs, allowing the nicotine and sugar to enter the lungs faster and give smokers a “rush.” Furthermore, when sugar is burned, it creates a chemical called acetaldehyde, which enhances the already potent addictive quality of nicotine.

Nicotine and carbon monoxide are significant factors in vascular disease, constricting blood vessels. This is one reason why pregnant women who smoke put their babies at risk. The nicotine tightens the blood vessels in the placenta (the source of nourishment for the unborn baby), thereby reducing the amount of oxygen getting to the fetus. The good news is that both nicotine and carbon monoxide leave the body fairly quickly when the woman stops smoking.

Do Filters Help?

Many smokers believe that filters help keep some of these deadly substances from their lungs. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Filters help keep tobacco and other particulates from entering the mouth. They also help prevent the cigarette from collapsing in the smoker’s mouth and from sticking to the lips.

The Effects of Second Hand Smoke

Secondhand smoke contains a complex mixture of over 200 poisons, including more than 43 chemicals that are know cancer-causing agents.

1. According to “Acute Effects of Passive Smoking on the Coronary Circulation in Healthy Young Adults by Ryo Otsuka.” As few as 30 minutes of secondhand smoke exposure can impair coronary circulation in a non-smoker.

2. According to the study “Passive Smoking and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke: Prospective Study with Cotinine Measurement by Peter Whincup.” The study found that secondhand smoke increases the risk of heart disease among non-smokers by as much as 60 percent.

3. According to “2002 International Agency for Research on Cancer”. The studies suggest that non-smokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke are 20 to 30 percent more likely to develop lung cancer.

4. Based on “A Prospective Study of Passive Smoking and Coronary Heart Disease by Ichiro Kawachi”, Women married to a smoker have a 91 percent greater risk of heart disease.

5. Based on “U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General. “Breathing secondhand smoke can have immediate adverse effects on your blood and blood vessels, potentially increasing the risk of a heart attack.

The Effects of Second Hand Smoke on Children

1. Smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke among pregnant women can cause spontaneous abortions, ectopic pregnancies, still births, low-birth weight babies, and other pregnancy and delivery complications that require neonatal intensive care. source

2. If parents smoke around their children, the children can inhale the equivalent of 102 packs of cigarettes by age five. Source: National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

3. It is estimated that in Oregon, approximately 167,000 children are exposed to secondhand smoke at home. From tobaccofreekids.org

4. Nationwide, children exposed to secondhand smoke experience a total of seven million more days of missed school every year. From Kiiss.org

Resources about Smoking

The 3 Ways To Quit Smoking The three major ways that most smokers use are: cold turkey, with the use of medications, either over the counter or prescription, and with the use of some type of hypnosis program.

More information about the toxins in cigrretts from the American Lung Association. The 2006 Surgeon General’s Report on secondhand smoke concluded that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke.

way2quit.com offers four areas to not only help you quit but to help you understand the addiction.

helpguide.org explains quitting smoking in detail, everything from why it seems so hard to quit to various plans and methods you can use to achieve success.

quitguide.com offers you, not only all of the latest methods you can use to stop smoking, but it offers up the latest research results in the area of quitting smoking.

This site is an all inclusive site and an excellent resource in your goal to stop smoking.

Resource by F.Rosseti

I am a teacher in Michigan. I grew up in Florida and have lived here in MI for close to 15 years. I enjoy writing and skiing in my spare time.

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