What does a cigarette really consist of?

Have smokers with experience thought of what the cigarette is made of? They absorb them dozens every day, but hardly pay attention to the inscriptions in small print that are present on the pack.

Social Excursion

People start to smoke for various reasons: stress, loneliness, the desire to join the new collective, the desire to "grow up", an attempt to clear the brain, etc. Few people know what modern cigarettes are made of, why their cost is low, and the retail price is high , Where and how they are produced. Satisfaction with a momentary whim can end in an addiction for life. Social advertising everywhere urges to abandon the addiction, shows blackened lungs and people dying of incurable diseases, but does not succeed in their endeavors.

Each cigarette you smoke is a "shot" into your own organism with a poison dart, the effect of which is invisible to a certain point. When the amount of poison becomes critical, this time bomb starts to work, killing us.

So what does a cigarette consist of? The photo of this product in a section can well demonstrate its "insides". But what you see (tobacco, filter, paper) - only at first glance seems relatively innocuous. And if you dig deeper?

Structure

An ordinary cigarette consists of tobacco and by-products, tissue paper and a filter. While it was not set on fire, it is not dangerous, and it looks pretty attractive. Manufacturers have taken care that the presence in the hands of a small cylinder looked fashionable, cool, with a challenge. Burning the filling, we inhale the resulting hot smoke along with all the additional substances in our lungs. An active smoker absorbs up to 30% of all smoke from a smoked cigarette. The percentage depends on the presence or absence of a filter, the quality of tobacco, the way of smoking. The remaining 70% are received by surrounding people - passive smokers and hostages of your habit.

They probably know what the cigarette is made of, and have told you about it many times, but what are the words as opposed to wanting to get a fresh nicotine?

Composition of smoke

No matter how strange it sounds, smoke is not only gas, but also solid particles that settle in the lungs. In addition to the poisonous effect, they still irritate bronchial mucosa, causing frequent inflammatory or allergic reactions.

Gas part

The main part of cigarette smoke is gas, or rather a mixture of gases. All of them are sufficiently poisonous to do harm alone, and together they represent a truly nuclear combination:

- Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide;

- acrolein;

- acetaldehyde;

- ammonium;

- Acetone;

- nitrobenzene;

- isoprene;

- Hydrogen sulphide.

Particulate matter

A small but perceptible fraction of solid particles is necessarily present in the smoke. The particles settle on the mucosa of the upper vasculature, irritate it, causing inflammation. These are the following substances:

- nicotine;

- water;

- resin (tar) containing aromatic carbohydrates, phenols, cresols, naphthalenes.

In addition, there are also silicon, calcium, titanium, strontium, thallium, polonium, related to radioactive elements.

Next, we will take a closer look at each of them so that you have an idea of what gets into your body with every breath of tobacco smoke and understand what cigarettes really are made of.

List of "killer" substances

1. Acetaldehyde - when ingested it is oxidized to acetic acid, causes gene mutations in the fetus, affects hormonal metabolism, the production of prostaglandins and leukotrienes, has a destructive effect on the nervous system. Contained in alcoholic products, too.

2. Acetone is a volatile solvent, a toxic substance that causes narcotic intoxication. Cumulated in the body, causing chronic oxygen starvation, poisoning the liver and spleen.

3. Benzene is a poisonous substance with a specific sweetish smell, it is used in the oil refining industry for the production of paints, rubber, plastic, gasoline. In large doses, poisoning is manifested by nausea, vomiting, dizziness. Therefore, inexperienced smokers are bad even from one puff. Its high content in the blood depresses all the germs of the hematopoies, causing cancerous degeneration of the bone marrow.

4. DDT is a pesticide used to control insect pests (used as chemical weapons during the Vietnam War). It is forbidden to use in agriculture since the 80s of the last century.

5. Indole - aromatic carbohydrate, has a specific sharp odor, excitatory effect on the nervous system, causes hallucinations. Component LSD-25.

6. Cadmium - refers to heavy metals. Used in the manufacture of batteries and batteries. Accumulated in the kidneys with constant contact, affects the mineral composition of bones, their density.

7. Heavy metals - are trigger factors in the development of cancer. Their content in tobacco leaves depends on the conditions of growth and collection of raw materials, use of insecticides, herbicides and other agricultural chemical reagents.

8. Manganese - accumulating in the tissues of the body, provokes degenerative changes in the nervous system, causes the phenomena of parkinsonism (characteristic symptoms of Parkinson's disease, caused by other causes).

9. Methanol - one of the components of rocket fuel. Extremely toxic to humans, because it oxidizes to formaldehyde, which has a negative effect on the liver, kidneys and nervous system. In small doses leads to blindness, a possible fatal outcome.

10. Nicotine is the strongest poison. Symptoms of poisoning: headache, dizziness, vomiting. It is addictive with an insignificant dose.

11. Radioactive components - radium, thorium, polonium, lead, bismuth, cesium. Filters that are installed in cigarettes do not detain radioactive particles. Accumulating in the lungs, they permanently irradiate the body, causing cell mutations and, as a consequence, cancer.

12. Mercury, lead - refer to heavy metals. Negatively affect the nervous system, deposited in the kidneys, muscles, bones. Of the symptoms are: fatigue, decreased attention, aggressiveness, metallic taste in the mouth, abdominal pain, vision problems.

This is only a small fraction of the substances that enter the body of the person who smokes every day. The answer to the question: "What does a cigarette consist of?", Most likely, will not convince heavy smokers, but it can help those who are just beginning to acquire this addiction.

Manufacturing of cigarettes

How and what do cigarettes really do? The photos below are below illustrate some stages of a complex process.

The first stage - the selection and combination of different varieties of tobacco to obtain the desired taste and smell. Every single variety is not suitable for smoking.

The second stage is the mixing of different grades in a pneumatic drum. At this point, aromatic components can add to the plants.

The third stage - the production of tobacco fiber (cutting sheets).

The fourth stage is cleaning from debris and dust.

The fifth stage is the cooling and drying of the finished mixture. The so-called "aging" of tobacco. It lasts up to two years, depending on the desired result.

Types of tobacco products

1. The cigarettes. Tissue paper, 2/3 filled with tobacco and rolled into a cylinder. A tipping paper is used from above, used as a filter.
2. Cigarettes. Tobacco harness, compacted and wrapped in paper, with a sealed suture. Can have a filter or be sold without it.
3. Cigars. Hand-rolled tobacco sheets of a special collection. Produced in Havana. A thorough check of product quality is carried out.
4. Smoking and pipe tobacco
5. Smoking and snuff

What modern cigarettes are composed of, and tobacco can not be called, because its mass fraction is very small. Synthetic substitutes reproducing the taste and smell of nicotine have already been found. Surrogates are already harmful products. And all in order to reduce the cost of production and increase the status of owners of tobacco companies.

What does a cigarette consist of? Do I need to know this to stop smoking? Or is it enough that even in pure form, nicotine is a powerful poison? Decide, of course, you.