You’ve seen the commercials that say cigarettes kill. For years, people have been saying that cigarettes are bad for you and second hand smoke is harmful too. However, what exactly is in cigarettes? More importantly, what specific ingredients cause cancer and other illnesses? Here’s an in-depth look at some cigarette ingredients and their harmful effects.
Acetone
Acetone is an ingredient in cigarettes. Does this ingredient sound familiar? Acetone is the chemical used in nail polish remover. In other words, it is strong enough to eat away at nail polish. If this substance gets on varnished wood, it immediately eats the stain off. According to Quitsmokinghub.com, acetone is an eye, nose and throat irritant. Additionally, “breathing high levels of acetone headaches, light-headedness, confusion, increased heart rate, nausea, vomiting and shortening of the menstrual cycle.
Arsenic
The word Arsenic does not sound good. That’s because it is used in rat poison. According to Quitsmokinghub.com, arsenic can “increase the risk of cancer in the lungs, skin, bladder, liver, kidney and prostate.”
Benzene
Benzene is one of the culprits of leukemia. As indicated by info.cancerresearchuk.org, “the average smoker inhales about ten times more benzene than the average non-smoker.” This is not surprising considering the substance is “refined from crude oil.”
Chromium
Although chromium is a naturally occurring substance, it has been linked to lung cancer. There are different types of chromium. According to Smoking and cancer: What’s in a cigarette, chromium VI is the toxic type of chromium found in cigarettes. It is “known to cause lung cancer.”
Formaldehyde is a dangerous chemical because the amounts in secondhand smoke can increase cancer risk. This substance also causes problems in the lungs.
Tar
The cigarette companies have tried to market light or low-tar cigarettes as healthier. However, based on information in The Harmful Chemicals in Cigarettes, these types of cigarettes are not any better than the regular ones. In fact, you are breathing in the “same chemicals and your risk of developing smoking-related cancer is just as great.” Along with causing tooth discoloration, tar can cause cancer.
Other Negatives
It’s pretty apparent that cigarette use and secondhand smoke is harmful to your health. However, it’s also detrimental to your appearance and self-esteem. Smoking often causes the yellowing of teeth and smoker’s mouth, or wrinkles around your mouth. Additionally, there’s a negative stigma associated with smoking. Often times, people, especially with children, with shy away from people who are smoking. Socially, I think there is a divide between smokers and non-smokers. Personally, I know I am hesitant to go over to someone’s house with my child if I know they smoke inside their house.
What’s being done about it?
According to, What’s in a Cigarette? FDA to Study Ingredients, this June, The Food and Drug Administration will require companies to tell them exact “formulas” used for making their cigarettes. This is just the first step the FDA is taking in response to a new law that increases the FDA’s ” power to regulate tobacco far beyond the warnings now on packs, short of banning it outright.” While some of this new information will be kept behind closed doors, this new “list of harmful and potentially harmful ingredients” will be available by June 2011.
The list of harmful ingredients of cigarettes goes on and on. WebMD says, “experts believe about 90% of lung cancers are caused by cigarette smoke.” If you’ve ever lost a loved one who smoked to lung cancer, you know the consequences. If you’ve ever seen the miraculous change in a former smoker’s health, you know the benefits of quitting. Hopefully, the FDA will do something about changing the harmful ingredients in cigarettes. Unfortunately, until there is change, the tobacco companies will continue to profit off of this addictive substance.
I am not a doctor. These claims are based on research and personal experience.
Sources:
Michael Felberbaum What’s in a Cigarette? FDA to Study Ingredients, abcnews.go.com
Kathleen Hall The Harmful Chemicals in Cigarettes, qualityhealth.com
Environmental Illness – Toxic Chemicals in Our Environment Web MD
Smoking and cancer: What’s in a cigarette? info.cancerresearchuk.org
