Quit The Four Thousand Chemicals In Your Cigarettes

Have you ever wondered what is in a cigarette that makes it a smart idea to give them up? Most people think solely about the nicotine, the part of a cigarette that makes it addictive, and assume that there is nothing else that could possibly be bad for them. The assumption is that tobacco is a natural product and so it is harmless. There are many things contained in a cigarette that can hurt you. The fact is that there are over four thousand chemicals in each cigarette and somewhere in the neighborhood of sixty that are chemicals known to be carcinogenic. All of them have potentially deadly effects. Some of these chemicals can cause lung cancer while others can be the cause of heart disease or emphysema.

Some of the chemicals found in cigarettes include cyanide, benzene, formaldehyde, methanol, ammonia, acetone butane, arsenic and sulfuric acid. As well it contains gases that are potentially dangerous like nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide. Cyanide and arsenic are both poisons. Acetylene is the chemical fuel used in welding torches. Formaldehyde is used to preserve corpses while benzene is flammable and methanol is a form of alcohol. The gooey material that remains in the filter when a person smokes is called tar. It is not unlike that used to make roads. This tar gets into the lungs with every puff that is inhaled. It is sticky stuff and it sticks to the sides of the smoker’s lungs eventually turning them black. A smoker also inhales way too much carbon monoxide with each cigarette. This gas, also found in car exhaust, can do a lot of damage to a smoker’s health. It can cause respiratory problems, heart disease, or circulation problems.

Nicotine is a highly poisonous substance that is used in many sprays used to kill bugs. It is so strong that in its unadulterated form a single drop on the tongue would mean death. It is this nicotine that makes the smoker come back for more since nicotine is the addictive chemical in all cigarettes.

The reason for many of these additives is to increase the addictive nature of the cigarette. Some are there for taste but the truth is that once the cigarette companies have a person smoking they want to keep them as a long term customer. Nicotine does this but it is not thought to be enough by itself. The chemicals also play a part in keeping the cigarettes together. Certain of them help the paper to burn. Many of the chemicals are in the leaves or they are in the words on the cigarette that say the brand name. Some cigarettes contain a sweetener banned in America foods, a pesticide, a perfume, something used to recharge batteries and other insecticides.

There are no two ways to look at it. Those who smoke inhale way too many chemicals and additives that their bodies do not need. If you ever needed a reason to stop smoking the four thousand foreign things you are putting in your body certainly is a good one.

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