Signal One Smokebusters : Info on Smoking : What's in a cigarette?

What's in a cigarette??

Here are some of the chemicals found in a cigarette. Click on a chemical below or scroll down to read more.

Nicotine, Tar, Carbon Monoxide, Acetone, Ammonia, DDT, Methane, Benzene and Hydrazine

Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances on the planet.
When someone smokes, the nicotine reaches the brain mega quick – in just 7 seconds!
When nicotine reaches the brain, it causes the release of a hormone called ‘dopamine’. This hormone is linked to feelings of pleasure, and every time someone takes a drag on a cigarette more dopamine is released.
This is why nicotine is so addictive, because people want to keep having these feelings of pleasure, even though they know smoking is damaging their health.
Even after just smoking a few cigarettes, the brain becomes so used to having nicotine that it needs to keep on having it, and if people haven’t smoked for a while, they experience some bad feelings called ‘withdrawal symptoms’, such as being annoyed, bad tempered and nervous.
This is why people find it very, very hard to quit smoking because if they don’t smoke they can have these ‘withdrawal symptoms’ for up to a month. They will also be constantly thinking about cigarettes. Unfortunately, lots of people find quitting too hard, and they give in and start smoking again.
82% of adult smokers started smoking when they were teenagers. When they were young they probably thought that they could quit smoking anytime they wanted to, but they didn’t realise the addictiveness of nicotine. I bet they hate the fact that they are now being controlled by nicotine!

Tar is a sticky brown substance which stains smoker’s fingers and teeth a yellowy-brown colour.
Tar from cigarette smoke coats the lungs like it does the roads – when a smoker inhales, about 70% of the tar in the smoke stays in the lungs, damaging the small hairs (cilia) that clean the lungs.
An average smoker’s lungs collect over a mug full of tar every year!
Smoking reduces people’s sense of taste and smell because the tar coats the tongue – this is maybe why smokers can put up with the horrible taste of cigarettes! But luckily after just 48 hours of not smoking, people’s sense of taste and smell greatly improves.
When people first quit smoking, they tend to have bad coughs and they cough up lots of mucus – but this is a good sign as it shows that the lungs are starting to clean themselves again by getting rid of all the tar.

Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas found in cigarette smoke. It is the same gas you find in car exhaust fumes, and in large amounts it can kill.
Normally, oxygen is transported around the body to all the muscles and organs by attaching itself to the haemoglobin (red blood cells that carry oxygen) in the bloodstream.
But if someone smokes, they breathe in carbon monoxide and the carbon monoxide wants to be carried around the body by attaching itself to the haemoglobin as well.
Because carbon monoxide and oxygen both want to be carried around the body via the haemoglobin, they have a fight.
Unfortunately, the carbon monoxide is stronger than the oxygen and it easily attaches itself to the haemoglobin. This means that the blood can carry much less oxygen around the body to all the muscles and organs (by up to 15%).
So if you want to be good at sport, don’t smoke because smoking reduces your fitness, as less oxygen is travelling to your muscles to power them! This is why all your favourite sports stars like David Beckham and Jonny Wilkinson don’t smoke!
When people first quit smoking they sometimes feel dizzy, but this is good sign because it shows that more oxygen (rather than carbon monoxide) is going around the body and reaching the brain!

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