Poison Cocktail Tobacco Smoke

2023 Author: Wallace Forman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 18:19

Poison cocktail tobacco smoke

With every puff on the cigarette and when smoldering, the combustion of the tobacco and the cigarette paper creates a gas mixture in which thousands of small particles (particles) are dissolved. Many of them are poisonous or carcinogenic. In addition to the crucial active ingredient nicotine, cigarette smoke contains a mixture of over 4,800 substances, including water vapor, carbon monoxide, nicotine, nitrosamine, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, hydrogen cyanide, formaldehyde, cadmium and free radicals.

When the tobacco is burned, the cigarette smoke forms a mixture of sometimes highly toxic substances, the tar. This condensate (dry, water-free and nicotine-free smoke condensate) is deposited as a typical yellow-brown coating on the fingers or teeth, but also in the airways and in the lungs. The poison cocktail produced by smoking is not only inhaled by smokers, but also pollutes the air in the environment and thus non-smokers.

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• more on the subject
• Advice, downloads & tools
• Ingredients and additives in cigarettes
• Toxic and carcinogenic substances in tobacco smoke
• Water pipes (shishas)
• E-cigarettes

Ingredients and additives in cigarettes

Today, cigarettes mostly consist not only of pure tobacco leaves, but of a tobacco mixture with various additives. The additives are supposed to improve the taste and keep the tobacco moist. They also make nicotine absorption easier or relieve the scratchy throat. Over 600 tobacco additives are known, including, for example, menthol, sugar, ammonia, glues, adhesives and thickeners or preservatives. They can make up more than ten percent of the total weight of a cigarette. The use of additives increases the number of harmful substances in tobacco smoke considerably and thus also the health risk. Some additives can also increase the potential for dependence. Since 2010 manufacturers orAccording to the tobacco product ingredients survey regulation, importers of tobacco products report the ingredients and additives to the Ministry of Health. As of May 20, 2020, a ban on the sale of tobacco products with characteristic flavors (e.g. menthol cigarettes) will apply in the EU.

Note Here you will find information sheets on how 15 selected tobacco product additives work and their effects on health.

Notes: Nicotine and Other Cigarette Ingredients (Smoke Free Phone).

Toxic and carcinogenic substances in tobacco smoke

The substances contained in cigarette smoke show a harmful effect even in very small quantities - in the milligram range. More than 90 of these substances are rated as carcinogenic or likely carcinogenic by specialist organizations and expert committees. These substances can damage the genetic material (DNA), so that healthy cells degenerate into cancer cells. Arsenic, benzene, cadmium, formaldehyde and nickel are among the most dangerous substances classified in Group 1 as “carcinogenic for humans” according to the IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) classification scheme.

Important tobacco smoke ingredients and their harmful effects:

• Carbon monoxide: The breath poison leads to a lack of oxygen in the blood and as a result in blood vessels, organs and tissues. It favors the development of vascular diseases.
• Irritant gases: Disrupt the self-cleaning ability of the airways and promote the formation of mucus. This leads to smoker's cough and respiratory diseases.
• Benzene: Carcinogenic, causes leukemia.
• Lead: The highly toxic metal can damage the brain, kidneys and nervous system. In the growth phase, it can cause developmental disorders in children and adolescents. Carcinogenic.
• Cadmium: Carcinogenic, regular exposure can lead to kidney damage.
• Formaldehyde: Carcinogenic, causes stinging of the eyes and irritation of the mucous membranes and the respiratory tract.

Further information: Toxins in tobacco smoke (German Cancer Research Center)

Water pipes (shishas)

The smoking of water pipes (shishas) is often wrongly assessed by consumers as being more harmless than smoking cigarettes, and the potential for addiction is also underestimated. The use of the water pipe is hardly less harmful than cigarette smoking. The smoke from water pipes does not lose its toxins. In some cases, even larger quantities of pollutants are absorbed than through filterless cigarettes. The secondhand smoke from hookahs is even more harmful than that from cigarettes.

Notes: Shisha - water pipe (smoke free phone).

E-cigarettes

The smoke from the e-cigarette is a liquid that has been vaporized and often contains nicotine and various aromatic substances. There is currently insufficient scientific data on the health effects of repeated, long-term use, and there are no uniform product standards. The health risk has so far been difficult to assess. The main ingredient propylene glycol, which is responsible for nebulization, is a cause for concern. Repeated inhalation of propylene glycol vapors may cause respiratory irritation.

Notes: e-cigarettes and e-hookahs (smoke-free phone).