Cigarettes can look harmless enough but when they burn they release a cocktail of about 4,000 chemical. 80 of these chemicals have been found to be cancer-causing, such as tar - one of the more well known chemicals found in cigarettes - or Polonium-210.
Tar is a collection of solid particles that are inhaled when a cigarette is lit. When it settles it forms a sticky brown residue that can stain smokers' teeth, fingers and lungs. Though tar is the most well known it is not the most damaging chemical in cigarettes; the most dangerous chemicals in tobacco smoke are present as gases. Polonium-210 is one of these. Tobacco smoke contains traces of polonium, which become deposited inside the airways and delivers alpha-radiation directly to surrounding cells. The lungs of smokers can be exposed to four times more polonium than those of non-smokers and specific parts may get a hundred times more radiation. One study estimated that someone smoking one and half packs a day receives the equivalent amount of radiation as someone having 300 chest X-rays a year.
A full list of cancer-causing chemicals in cigarettes can be found on:
info.cancerresearchuk.org/healthyliving/smokingandtobacco/wh
As well as the 80 cancer-causing chemicals, cigarettes contain hundreds of poisons such as Hydrogen cyanide. This chemical does the most damage to the heart and blood vessels out of all the chemicals found in cigarettes and though it does not directly cause cancer it significantly increases the risk of other chemicals causing cancer by damaging cilia, lining the airways. Another poisonous chemical found in cigarettes is Toluene which damages brain cells and interferes with their development.
There are also around 599 additives in cigarettes of which Nicotine is one. Nicotine is a highly addictive drug and many additives designed to make cigarettes taste nicer also keep smokers hooked.
For a full official list of all these additives have a look at this website through this link:
quitsmoking.about.com/cs/nicotineinhaler/a/cigingredients.ht
Tar is a collection of solid particles that are inhaled when a cigarette is lit. When it settles it forms a sticky brown residue that can stain smokers' teeth, fingers and lungs. Though tar is the most well known it is not the most damaging chemical in cigarettes; the most dangerous chemicals in tobacco smoke are present as gases. Polonium-210 is one of these. Tobacco smoke contains traces of polonium, which become deposited inside the airways and delivers alpha-radiation directly to surrounding cells. The lungs of smokers can be exposed to four times more polonium than those of non-smokers and specific parts may get a hundred times more radiation. One study estimated that someone smoking one and half packs a day receives the equivalent amount of radiation as someone having 300 chest X-rays a year.
A full list of cancer-causing chemicals in cigarettes can be found on:
info.cancerresearchuk.org/healthyliving/smokingandtobacco/wh
As well as the 80 cancer-causing chemicals, cigarettes contain hundreds of poisons such as Hydrogen cyanide. This chemical does the most damage to the heart and blood vessels out of all the chemicals found in cigarettes and though it does not directly cause cancer it significantly increases the risk of other chemicals causing cancer by damaging cilia, lining the airways. Another poisonous chemical found in cigarettes is Toluene which damages brain cells and interferes with their development.
There are also around 599 additives in cigarettes of which Nicotine is one. Nicotine is a highly addictive drug and many additives designed to make cigarettes taste nicer also keep smokers hooked.
For a full official list of all these additives have a look at this website through this link:
quitsmoking.about.com/cs/nicotineinhaler/a/cigingredients.ht
