What’s In Cigarette Smoke?

A Recipe For Toxic Soup

One cigarette contains over 4,000 chemicals — 69 are known to cause cancer to humans and over 200 are known to be toxic to humans. Some examples are:

ACETIC ACID: found in hair dye and developer

ACETONE: Found in fingernail polish remover

AMMONIA: Found in many household cleaners used to clean floors and toilets

ARSENIC: Found in rat poison

BENZENE: Found in rubber cement

BUTANE: Found in lighter fluid

CADMIUM:  Found in batteries and artists’ oil paint

CARBON MONOXIDE: Found in car exhaust fumes

ETHANOL: Found in alcohol

FORMALDEYHDE: Found in embalming fluid

HEXAMINE: Found in barbecue lighter fluid

HYDRAZINE: Used in jet and rocket fuels

LEAD: Found in batteries

MERCURY: Found in the liquid that was used in older thermometers (not used anymore as it was too dangerous)

METHANE GAS: Found in manure or any other feces

METHANOL: Used in rocket fuel

NAPTHALENES: Used in explosives, moth balls, and paint pigments

NICOTINE: This addictive drug has also been used as an insecticide

PHENOL: Used in disinfectants and plastics

STYRENE: Found in insulation material

TAR: Found in road pavement and roofing materials

Additional Toxic Ingredients Found in Cigarettes and Cigarette Smoke

CARBON TETRACHLORIDE: Also found in dry cleaning fluid

DDT: Found in a pesticide so dangerous that it has been banned for use in the U.S.

HYDROGEN CYANIDE: Also used as poison in gas chambers

NITROSAMINES: Found in weed killers

POLONIUM: Found in radioactive substances; one pack of cigarettes equals the radiation dosage of 300 chest x-rays in one year

RADON: A gas known to cause lung cancer

TOLUENE: embalmer’s glue, industrial solvents

AND THE LIST OF POISONS GOES ON AND ON!!!!

Adapted from website information from the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Office of Health Promotion, Education and Tobacco Use Prevention:

mdpublichealth.org/ohpetup/tobacco/tobacco.html

For more information please contact:

The DC Tobacco Free Coalition at: www.dctfc.org

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