Tobacco is a plant grown for its leaves, which are used to make cigarettes, cigars, snuff, and chewing tobacco. Tobacco is considered a narcotic and addictive due to the presence of nicotine in it. According to recent statistics, tobacco is the number one killer in the world.
Studies by the World Health Organization have shown that tobacco kills one person every 6 seconds in the world, or about 5 million people annually. Tobacco leaves are used after drying and fermenting for smoking purposes. Smoking is defined as the process of inhaling the vapor resulting from the burning of plant leaves. There are many plants commonly used in the smoking process, including marijuana and hashish. However, tobacco is the most widespread, and its composition contains many harmful chemicals such as nicotine; which is the main cause of addiction that increases the smoker's intense desire to smoke. There are many types of tobacco, including French yellow tobacco, Polish tobacco, German tobacco, and many other types, all of which are of great importance in the manufacture of molasses.
Tobacco components:
Tobacco products are made by adding many chemicals to improve the taste and increase the pleasure during use. It is worth noting that; The process of burning a cigarette produces thousands of chemicals, including at least seventy types of carcinogens. It has been found that smoking tobacco can cause some serious health problems, including heart and lung diseases. The most prominent harmful chemicals produced by smoking tobacco are the following:
Nicotine: The main substance that causes addiction and motivates the smoker to continue smoking.
Tar: Solid particles suspended in tobacco smoke, which contain carcinogenic chemicals. Tar is characterized by its viscosity and brown color, which causes discoloration of teeth, nails, and lung tissue.
Carbon monoxide: A toxic, odorless and colorless gas that replaces oxygen when it enters the body, which prevents oxygen from reaching the body's organs and cells, and leads to death if too much of it is inhaled.
Metals: Tobacco smoke contains many carcinogenic metals, the most important of which are arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, lead, and nickel.
Radioactive elements: Tobacco contains carcinogenic radioactive elements, including uranium.
Oxidizing chemicals: Highly reactive chemicals that can damage the heart muscles and blood vessels of smokers; they react with cholesterol, leading to the accumulation of fatty substances on the walls of the arteries, which in turn increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke.
Other components include:
- Hydrogen cyanide.
- Formaldehyde.
- Lead.
- Ammonia.
- Benzene.
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
- Harms of smoking tobacco:
- Smoking tobacco involves many harms and negative side effects.
