Dangerous ingredients in cigarettes: only nicotine?
“The smoke of a cigarette of this brand contains according to ISO ~ 0.4 mg nicotine and ~ 6 mg condensate (tar)”, says the writing on each cigarette packet. But that’s not all!
Which ingredients are still unhealthy?
Everyone knows that smoking is a health hazard – but it is not just the nicotine in tobacco smoke that is responsible for the harmful effects of smoking. Meanwhile, between 4000 to 5000 ingredients identified in the so-called blue haze, of which more than 40 are carcinogenic. Others are considered toxic or irritating, and the effects of many are not yet known.
Proven carcinogenic
- Benzene
- Nitrosamine
- Teer
- arsenic compounds
- Zinc oxide
Probably carcinogenic
- Aniline
- Nappy
- cadmium compounds
Poisonous
- Nicotine
- hydrogen cyanide
- carbon monoxide
Lovely
- Ammonia
- Formaldehyde
- nitrogen oxides
The alkaloid nicotine
Nicotine is formed in the roots of the tobacco plant and deposited in its leaves. It is one of the most toxic plant substances. The lethal dose for humans is 50 mg, while inhaling  the smoke of a cigarette averages 3 mg. When smoking, nicotine gets into the blood, causing skin temperature to drop and heart rate to increase.
Terrifying facts
Between 90,000 and 140,000 people die every year in Germany as a result of smoking, around 400 of them as a result of “passive smoking”. Diseases such as cancer , lung diseases, heart attacks  and strokes  are associated with it. Due to the high combustion temperatures, the inhaled smoke contains fewer pollutants than the haze that is produced when the cigarette is smoldering!