Toxins in Tobacco

Cigarette smoke contains over 4,700 chemical compounds including 60 known carcinogens. No threshold level of exposure to cigarette smoke has been defined but there is conclusive evidence to indicate that long-term (years) smoking greatly increases the likelihood of developing numerous fatal conditions.

The following tables, sourced from US Surgeon General Reports on the Health Consequences of smoking summarise the toxic components of cigarettes.

Primary Toxic and Carcinogenic components of Cigarette Smoke including vapour-phase and particulate phase components
Agent Toxic Ciliotoxic Carcinogenic Co-carcinogenic
/ Promoter
Carbon Monoxide x
Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) x
Hydrogen Cyanide x x
Formaldehyde x x
Acrolein x
Acetaldehyde x
Ammonia x
Hydrazine x
Vinyl Chloride x
Urethane x
2-Nitropropane x
Quinoline x
Benzo[a]pyrene x x
Dibenz[a,h]anthracene x x
Benzo[b]fluoranthene x x
Benzo[j]fluoranthene x x
Dibenzo[a,h]pyrene x x
Dibenzo[a,i]pyrene x x
Dibenz[a,j]acridine x x
Indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene x x
Benzo[c]phenanthrene x x
Benz[a]anthracene x x
Benzo[e]pyrene x x
Chrysene x x
Methylchrysene x x
Mehtylfluoranthene x x
Dibenz[a,c]anthracene x x
Dibenz[a,h]acridine x x
Dibenzo[c,g]carbazole x x
Mehtylnaphtalenes x
1-Methylindoles x
Dichlorostilbene x
Catechol x
3-Methycatechol x
4-Methycatechol x
4-Ethycatechol x
4-n-Propylcatechol x
Nitrosodimethylamine x
Nitrosoethymethylamine x
Nitrosodiethylamine x
Nitrosodi-n-propylamine x
Nitrosodi-n-butylamine x
Nitrosopyrrolidine x
Nitrosopiperidine x
Nitrosomorpholine x
N’-Nitrosonornicotine x
4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone x
N’-Nitrosoanabasine x
N’-Nitrosoanatabine x
Aromatic Amines x
Aromatic Nitrohydrocarbons x
Polonium-210 x
Nickel x
Arsenic x
Cadmium x

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