Smoking & Tobacco

Tobacco smoke is made up of 4,000 chemicals, many of which are carcinogenic (cancer-causing). They include acetone, used to make paint stripper; ammonia, contained in toilet cleaner; butane, a form of lighter fuel; beta-naphthyl methylether, more commonly known as mothballs; and cadmium, something that's used in car batteries. Smokers also inhale hydrogen cyanide, the poison used in gas chambers; methanol, a rocket fuel; arsenic and carbon monoxide, the poisonous gas in car exhausts.1 Nicotine is one of the 4,000 chemicals found in tobacco smoke. Since it was first identified in the early 1800s, nicotine has been shown to have a number of complex effects on the brain and body.2 Cigarette smoking is the most common form of nicotine addiction. Nicotine is absorbed through the skin and mucous membranes (such as the lining of the nose and gums), and by inhalation in the lungs. Nicotine changes how the brain and body function by being both