If you think that you are burning just tobacco while smoking a cigarette, you are wrong. There are so many other ingredients in a cigarette that it will take days for anybody to just know what they are. Most of these cigarette ingredients are very harmful.
Five cigarette companies in the U.S declared a list of substances that their cigarettes could contain. The U.S government health agencies approve these substances as food additives. But the problem is that these substances were not tested for safety when they are burned. And that is what happens in a cigarette.
The cigarette ingredient list given by the five contains 599 substances. These substances release over 4000 chemicals when burned in a cigarette. Out of these 43 are carcinogenic (cancer causing) compounds and another 400 are toxic.
Some harmful cigarette ingredients
Look at some substances found in cigarettes and analyze if you really want to put one in your mouth.
- Acetone — found in nail polish removers
- Arsenic — used in rat poison
- Butane — lighter fuel ingredient
- Cadmium — used in batteries
- Forms of cyanide — deadly poisonous substances
- DDT — a banned insecticide
- Formaldehyde — used to preserve dead beings
- Lead — poisonous metal
- Methanol — rocket fuel component
- Naphthalene — used in mothballs
- Methyl isocynate — dangerous substance which can kill. 2000 people died in India when this substance leaked out by accident.
- Polonium — a highly radioactive element
- Toluene — strong cleaning solvent
This is only a sample of what cigarettes contain. If you go through the whole list, you will find many more harmful substances.
Toxins released when cigarette ingredients burn
Here are some toxins which are inhaled by a person who smokes a cigarette
Carbon monoxide — a poisonous gas which can affect the oxygen carrying ability of the blood
Tar — this sticky substance gets deposited in the lungs and over a long time may damage them
The thing with cigarette smoke is that it not only affects the smoker, but also people in their surroundings who inhale the smoke indirectly. The consequences of passive smoking are quite harmful too.
