What’s in a cigarette?
WHAT'S IN A CIGARETTE?
Take one tobacco plant, spray it with cancer causing radioactive chemicals, add some rat poison and then pick and dry the plant. Now add some liquid used to preserve dead bodies, some toilet cleaner and some rocket fuel. To this add black tar and some battery acid……the list of “ingredients” could go on and on!
Do you know exactly what is in each and every cigarette?
A staggering 4000 chemicals!
Here are just a few of them:
NICOTINE
A highly addictive chemical that will have you wanting more and more cigarettes. Did you know that it is possible to become addicted to smoking after as little as 2 or 3 cigarettes? Ask anyone who has tried to give up smoking how addictive nasty nicotine can be!
TAR
This is the stuff that will turn healthy pink lungs into black damaged lungs. We say leave it for making roads, it’s much safer there!
CARBON MONOXIDE
This is a silent, creeping, deadly gas that has no smell or taste . It also comes out of car exhausts. It takes away your oxygen and without O2 we’re in big trouble….
CADMIUM
Ever left a battery in something too long? The acid leaks out and turns green. We reckon you all know that touching acid will burn your fingers, but have you ever stopped to think what it will do to your throat and lungs if you smoke?
HYDROGEN CYANIDE
A particularly nasty chemical with a gruesome history. It was used by Hitler to kill people in the gas chambers during the Second World War. It is still used today in countries who have the death penalty as it is put into lethal injections which are used to kill people who have committed serious crimes. Don’t be fooled by the cigarette companies who add it to their cigarettes to stop you coughing whilst you are smoking by paralysing your throat – they want to trick you into thinking smoking is a pleasant thing to do….
METHANOL
Ever seen a rocket launched into space on TV? It is powered by this chemical which is used to keep a cigarette alight.
FORMALDEHYDE
This is the one that preserves dead bodies and is known to cause cancer.
BENZENE
Another cancer causing chemical that finds its way into all sorts of things from petrol to washing up liquid to cigarettes.
POLONIUM 210
This is the stuff sprayed on to tobacco plants whilst they are growing to kill pests who may fancy a chomp at a leaf or two. Unfortunately it is radioactive and is also found in atomic bombs which can kill thousands of people. It was used to poison a Russian spy in London a couple of years ago. A small prize if you can remember his name and spell it correctly!
AMMONIA
Works really well at cleaning dirty toilets but also manages to work with Nicotine to get you addicted to smoking as quick as possible.
You may start to get bored if we describe the other 3,990 chemicals in a cigarette and we may start to go a little mad writing about them. If you really want to impress people with your superior chemical knowledge here is a list of a few more names you could drop into the conversation: Acetone, Methane, Arsenic, Turpentine, Toluene, Radon, Lead, Quinones, Resorcinol, Selenium, Scopoletin, Sitosterol, Skatole, Solanesol, Stearic acid, Stigmasterol and Styrene and many more.
For a complete list of all the chemicals check the following link: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/tobac-tabac/youth-jeunes/scoop-primeur/cigarette_scoop-primeur-eng.php