there are at least 43 cancer causing chemicals in cigarettes, some are detailed below. what do you think?

Question

Benzene (petrol additive)
A colourless cyclic hydrocarbon obtained from coal and petroleum, used as a solvent in fuel and in chemical manufacture - and contained in cigarette smoke. It is a known carcinogen and is associated with leukaemia.

Formaldehyde (embalming fluid)
A colourless liquid, highly poisonous, used to preserve dead bodies - also found in cigarette smoke. Known to cause cancer, respiratory, skin and gastrointestinal problems.

Ammonia (toilet cleaner)
Used as a flavouring, frees nicotine from tobacco turning it into a gas, found in dry cleaning fluids.

Acetone (nail polish remover)
Fragrant volatile liquid ketone, used as a solvent, for example, nail polish remover - found in cigarette smoke.

Tar
Particulate matter drawn into lungs when you inhale on a lighted cigarette. Once inhaled, smoke condenses and about 70 per cent of the tar in the smoke is deposited in the smoker's lungs.

Nicotine (insecticide/addictive drug)
One of the most addictive substances known to man, a powerful and fast-acting medical and non-medical poison. This is the chemical which causes addiction.

Carbon Monoxide (CO) (car exhaust fumes)
An odourless, tasteless and poisonous gas, rapidly fatal in large amounts - it's the same gas that comes out of car exhausts and is the main gas in cigarette smoke, formed when the cigarette is lit. Others you may recognize are :

Arsenic (rat poison), Hydrogen Cyanide (gas chamber poison)

source: Health Education Authority (UK) - Lifesaver

Answer 1

The list of 599 additives approved by the US Government for use in the manufacture of cigarettes is something every smoker should see. Submitted by the five major American cigarette companies to the Dept. of Health and Human Services in April of 1994, this list of ingredients had long been kept a secret.

Tobacco companies reporting this information were:

American Tobacco Company
Brown and Williamson
Liggett Group, Inc.
Philip Morris Inc.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company

While these ingredients are approved as additives for foods, they were not tested by burning them, and it is the burning of many of these substances which changes their properties, often for the worse. Over 4000 chemical compounds are created by burning a cigarette, many of which are toxic and/or carcinogenic. Carbon monoxide
nitrogen oxides, hydrogen cyanide and ammonia are all present in cigarette smoke. Forty-three known carcinogens are in mainstream smoke, sidestream smoke, or both.

It's chilling to think about not only how smokers poison themselves, but what others are exposed to by breathing in the secondhand smoke. The next time you're missing your old buddy, the cigarette, take a good long look at this list and see them for what they are: a delivery system for toxic chemicals and carcinogens.

Cigarettes offer people only a multitude of smoking-related diseases and ultimately death.

Smokers...if you are brave enough then have a look.

http://quitsmoking.about.com/cs/nicotineinhaler/a/cigingredients.htm

Answer 2

I think there's a whole lot more than that! I've seen longer lists.

I gave up cigarettes after a 42 year addiction to them. Could not do that alone. Needed an on line support group. Highly recommend it. Quitnet.com. Free. Excellent support.

I used nicotine gum, too. Have been away from all those poisons 4 yrs, 11 months now. Never gonna smoke again.

Answer 3

Hey guess what, I get larger doses of all these chemicals by taking a walk in my city.
At least by smoking, I am making it MY choice.
And no I don't smoke around non-smokers.

Seeing as I pay 70% tax on every packet, which should go towards healthcare, (and I get refused equal healthcare and health insurance) this means other should be benefiting. Why don't you go harass extreme sportmen and mountain climbers. They do not contribute, and they endanger the lives of volunteer rescuers. No? Go after drinkers then, it causes street violence and domestic abuse - I've never hit anyone (first).
Pornography? - people say it leads to rape? No?

Come back when you have made your perfect little sanitised world, and we'll talk again.

Answer 4

The tar in cigarette smoke is the primary carcinogen related to smoking. Over time, as this residue continues to collect in the lungs, it will bring about the mutation in cells that leads to cancer, ie- the uncontrolled reproduction of cells that should not be reproducing. This also is regulated through genetics, as is most everything in the body. This is why some people can smoke all their lives and die at age 95 from walking in front of a bus, while others can develop cancer within a few years.

Answer 5

Yes it is frightening...
But I suffer from terminal illness and I figure I dont drink (ex alcoholic) and dont do drugs (ex addict), so what if I go a few years earlier, I am terminal anyway..
I know it might not be a healthy way to look at it..
But cigarettes relax me and I have been able to decrease my pain medication (morphine) because the cigarettes relax my muscles that tense due to pain...
I may sound crazy, but my quality of life would not be improved much and for the 5 cigarettes I smoke a day I am going to keep doing it..
Thank you for listing this, it is very good advice...
But at the same time it is up to the individual and we all have different reasons for smoking..

Answer 6

That is nothing compared to this:
"Last week our organization, the Environmental Working Group, released a study of chemicals in umbilical cord blood from ten babies born in U.S. hospitals in August and September 2004 (EWG 2005). Two commercial laboratories analyzed the samples for 413 industrial chemicals, environmental pollutants, and pesticides. The tests showed 287 chemicals altogether in these 10 samples, including PCBs, perfluorochemicals, methylmercury, commercial flame retardants (polybrominated diphenyl ethers), brominated and chlorinated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans, and more. Our study joins a wealth of other investigations of chemicals in umbilical cord blood that collectively document widespread exposures to chemicals that begin in utero."
from here:
http://www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden2/petition_cdc_20050721.php

Do you have children? Do you own non-stick pans? How many commercial 'air fresheners' in your house?
We are being poisoned from birth. And it's political suicide to address the root of the problems. The tobacco lobby is immune. In the EU all that gets put in your mouth has to declare it's ingredients on the packaging. Except cigarettes and alcohol. Say no more. I got rid of the non-stick pans and feel happier for it. Even if it means i spend much more time scrubbing my stainless steel ones :-)

Answer 7

Ciggarettes are a disgusting, pointless substance. If it weren't for the nicotene it would probably be much easier to stop, but now they have many methods to control the urge, or addiction. So since the information is out there the people are obviously incredibly stubborn or live in the middle of nowhere with no television, internet, or telephones which I highly doubt.

Answer 8

Yeah, thanks for the huge amount of type about stuff i already know. We all know cigarettes are bad. Every smoker is trying to give up.

Cigarettes are bad.... so are drugs.... so are alcohol..... so is sex..... so is fatty food........
What a boring life we would all lead if we led it on the complete safe side.
I might get hit by a bus tomorrow..... and if i do, at least i can say i had a blast on this Earth while i could.

Answer 9

I think it's disgusting that people still smoke these things even after their price keeps going up and for what??? So they can hurry up and get cancer or some related disease!!!!
I hope this helps people to realize the damage this nasty little things cause.

Happy Holidays

Answer 10

I'm glad I stopped smoking in Feb 1998