|
What's in a Cigarette?
There's more than shredded tobacco in
a cigarette. The smoke contains almost 4,000 chemicals, many of
which are highly toxic.
The three most harmful ones are
nicotine, carbon monoxide and tar.
Nicotine
is a powerful and fast-acting stimulant drug. In small doses, it
speeds up the heart rate and raises blood pressure. This is why
smokers feel more alert when they light up. Meanwhile, a 'reward'
system is activated in the brain, to help the smoker feel pleasure
and relaxation.
Tar.
About 70% of the tar present in tobacco smoke ends up in the lungs.
Tar contains many substances which have been linked with cancer, as
well as irritants that cause the narrow airways inside the lungs to
become inflamed and clogged up with mucous.
Carbon
Monoxide is a poisonous gas found in high
concentrations in cigarette smoke. It's the same toxin that vehicle
exhaust pipes cough up. Once inside the lungs, the carbon monoxide
gets into the blood and travels round the body.
Smokers can have carbon monoxide
levels 5-10 times that of non-smokers. This deprives them of oxygen,
which makes the blood sticky, and causes problems with the growth,
repair and exchange of healthy nutrients. It's of particular danger
to unborn babies, and pregnant women who smoke run a serious risk of
miscarrying or having babies with low birth weight. Carbon monoxide
also encourages fatty deposits to clog up artery walls.
Of course,
these are just three of 4,000 toxins. Some of the others are:
Formaldehyde: Low levels of formaldehyde can cause
irritation of the eyes, nose, throat and skin. It is possible that
people with asthma may be more sensitive to the effects of inhaled
formaldehyde.
Arsenic:
A killer poison (a favourite poison among murder mystery writers)
Polonium:
A radioactive component. Well, we don't
know whether this is the same as the polonium which was used in the
recent Alexander Litvinenko poisoning!
Ammonia:
Added to cigarettes to enhance the delivery of nicotine into the
blood stream, thereby increasing its addictive ability without
actually increasing the portion of nicotine.
Acetone:
Found in nail varnish and superglue remover
| 
