Stop Procrastinating!
Quit NOW!
NEW! Actual photos of smokers' lungs
Have you ever wondered, what's in Cigarette smoke?
Well, there's a whole lot more besides tar & nicotine. While the
tar and carbon particulate is largely responsible for lung cancer and
damage to health, over 4000 other chemicals have been 
identified
in cigarette smoke, many of which are toxic and carcinogenic. Many of
these chemicals are even more dangerous in combination. Some of these
chemicals far exceed EPA smokestack emissions, and are banned from landfills.
Traces of Dioxin and PCBs, and believe it or not, Hydrazine (a deadly
rocket fuel) have been identified in cigarette smoke. Tobacco also contains
methoprene, and other insecticides, even DDT. The CDC has done an extensive
study on carcinogens
in cigarette smoke. Nicotine itself is used as an insecticide. In
fact, a home-made insecticide can be made by soaking cigarettes in soapy
water.
The burning tip of a cigarette is a miniature chemical factory, forming deadly nitrogen compounds, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons and many other lethal chemicals.
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Acrolein |
Powerful irritant - causes severe chemical burns |
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Formaldahyde |
Irritant - used in embalming fluid - linked to lung cancer |
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Benzene |
Industrial solvent - linked to leukemia |
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Carbon Monoxide |
Deadly gas - was used to exterminate prisoners during the Nazi Holocaust |
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Benzopyrene |
Deadly carcinogen - linked to many cancers |
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Acetaldehyde |
Industrial pollutant - accelerates aging - contributes to addictiveness of cigarettes |
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Dibenzacridine |
Industrial carcinogen |
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Nitrosamines (including N-Dimethylnitrosamine) |
Toxic & carcinogenic nitrogen compounds formed in the tobacco combustion process |
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Naphthylamine |
Industrial chemical - linked to bladder cancer |
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Sulfuric acid |
Powerful acid - in car batteries |
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Polonium 210 |
Radioactive cancer-causing element |
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Hydrogen Cyanide |
Deadly gas - used in gas chambers |
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Methyl Isocyanide |
Toxicant in the 1984 Bhopal India chemical plant disaster |
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Cadmium |
Toxic heavy metal - linked to many types of cancer |
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Arsenic |
Once used in rat poison - known carcinogen |
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Ethylene Oxide |
Potent carcinogen |
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Ammonia |
Additive in cigarettes to increase addictiveness |
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Lead |
Toxic heavy metal - causes brain damage |
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Vinyl Chloride |
Industrial chemical used in plastics manufacturing - well known carcinogen |
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Napthalene |
Active incredient in mothballs |
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DDT |
Banned insecticide |
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Angelica root extract |
Linked to cancer |
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RADIATION
Surprisingly
to most smokers and non-smokers alike, cigarettes are today's leading
source of radiation exposure. Cigarettes contain Polonium 210, Radon and
other radioactive isotopes. The typical pack-a-day smoker receives the
radiation equivalent of 400 chest X-rays per year. Chronic exposure to
nuclear radiation is very aging, contributing to the aging effects of
cigarette smoking.
TAR
The Tar in cigarettes is chemically the same tar used to pave roads, and tar roofs. 3 to 5 pounds worth of carcinogen-laden tar is inhaled by the average smoker over the course of a year.
According to the latest Surgeon General's report, cigarette smoking is even far more damaging to health than previously believed, damaging almost every organ and tissue in the human body. It's not just the heart and lungs.
Would you be willing to put your nose and mouth up to an exhaust pipe, or inhale the unfiltered emissions from an industrial chemical plant smokestack? That's what you're doing every time you take a puff from your cigarette.
Don't you think, maybe it's time to quit?