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Tobacco Basics
Tobacco products are the only legal consumer products that cause death and disease when used exactly as the manufacturer intended.
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- There are some 4,700 chemicals found in tobacco smoke, 200 are poisonous and 43 are carcinogenic. Some of the toxic substances used in cigarettes are listed below:
 Arsenic - used in rat poison
Acetic Acid - hair dye & developer
Acetone - main ingredient in paint and fingernail polish remover
Ammonia - a typical household cleaner
Benzene - rubber cement
Cadmium - found in batteries and artists' oil paint Carbon Monoxide – car exhaust
Formaldehyde - used to embalm dead bodies Hydrazine - used in jet and rocket fuels
Hydrogen Cyanide - poison in gas chambers
Napthalenes - used in explosives, moth balls, and paint pigments
Nickel - used in the process of electroplating
Nicotine - insecticide/addictive drug
Phenol - used in disinfectants and plastics
Polonium - radiation dosage, equal to 300 chest X-rays in one year Styrene - found in insulation material
Tuluene - embalmer's glue
Vinyl Chloride - ingredient found in garbage bags
- More than 400,000 people die of tobacco-related illnesses in the U.S. every year—more than from AIDS, car crashes, alcohol, suicides, homicides, fire and illegal drugs combined.
- Secondhand smoke has higher concentrations of toxins than inhaled smoke. It causes lung cancer and premature death in 3,000 nonsmokers each year.
- Smoking results in annual medical costs of at least 50 billion dollars a year.
- According to estimates, the tobacco industry spends 14 million dollars a day on promotions and advertising.
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| Cigars |
- One cigar has almost as much nicotine as three packs of cigarettes and contains higher levels of cancer-causing chemicals
- A cigar can contain up to 444 mg. of nicotine
- A cigarette can contain up to 11mg. of nicotine
- A burning cigar releases up to 80-90 times as much of the highly cancer-causing tobacco nitrosamines as one cigarette.
- Regular cigar smokers have 4-10 times greater risk of dying from cancer of the larynx, esophagus or mouth than nonsmokers. The overall cancer death rate for men who smoke cigars is 34% higher than nonsmokers.
- Nicotine and other cancer-causing chemicals in cigar smoke are absorbed through tissues lining the mouth and nose.
- Cigar smoking leads to stained teeth, bleeding gums, loss of teeth and bad breath.
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| Smokeless Tobacco |
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- Smokeless tobacco includes both chewing tobacco and snuff. Chewing tobacco is shredded tobacco that's sold loose, or in a bar or "plug". It is placed in the cheek and sucked or chewed. Snuff is finely ground tobacco that's sold loose or in packets. The snuff is tucked between the gum and lower lip. Dry snuff is powdered tobacco that's inhaled into a nostril. It is not commonly used in this country today.
- In all forms, chemicals from the smokeless tobacco are absorbed into the blood stream through mucous membranes in the mouth. Because the nicotine in snuff and chewing tobacco is released gradually, their effects seem to last longer than those of cigarettes.
- Smokeless products induce a higher blood-nicotine level, which is sustained for longer periods since users tend to chew over a period of hours.
- As with cigarettes, snuff and chewing tobacco may cause heart disease and certain kinds of cancer like cancer of the mouth, larynx and esophagus. These products also have dangers of their own, including gum diseases, erosion of teeth, and mouth lesions which can develop into cancer. Smokeless tobacco can result in non-cancerous and pre-cancerous oral lesions including leukoplakias, gum recession, gingivitis, tooth caries, abrasion, and staining.
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| Bidis, Beadies, Beedies |
- Bidi cigarettes are made in India, often in sweatshop-like conditions using child laborers.
- Bidis come in various flavors, such as strawberry, vanilla, chocolate, mango and grape.
- Bidis contain up to 8% nicotine while cigarettes contain 1-2%.
- Five times more tar is produced by bidis than regular cigarettes.
- Bidis have no filters.
- Bidis look like marijuana.
- Bidis contain 250 mg. of tobacco.
- Bidis cause lung, mouth, and throat cancer.
- Import/export officials have found insects, mice droppings and unclean substances in some bidi shipments.
- Bidis are made from the bottom of the barrel tobacco dregs and flakes.
- Over 80% of bidi packages do not carry the Surgeon General's health warning about the dangers of smoking.
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- Hookah is a form of tobacco smoking that originated in the Middle East.
- Hookah is also called: shisha, borry, goza, and nargile
- Hookah is sweetened tobacco, with flavors such as: apple, apricot, chocolate, cherry and licorice.
- Hookah is relatively new to the public health community in the US
- Hookah users may inhale as much smoke in one session as 100 cigarettes or more.
- Hookah tobacco contains the same chemicals found in cigarette tobacco, including nicotine.
- The charcoal used in the tobacco heating process produces the toxin carbon monoxide
- Hookah smoke is both:
- Clastogenic: capable of causing breakage of chromosomes
- Genotoxic: damaging to DNA and capable of causing mutations or cancer.
- Long-term health consequences of hookah pipe use may include:
- Nicotine addiction
- Oral cancer
- Lung disease
- Heart disease
- Affects of fetus
- Secondhand smoke can affect smokers and non-smokers alike.
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Copyright 1997-2007 Public Health
Department, Santa Barbara County. All Rights Reserved.
Page last updated
July 8, 2008
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Click HERE to contact the Tobacco Settlement Prevention Program.
For technical support regarding this site, click HERE. |
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