See the List of Cancers caused by smoking.
There is nothing beneficial about cigarette or tobacco smoking, whether for first hand or passive smokers.
List of cancers associated with smoking
- Lung Cancer
- Colon Cancer
- Liver Cancer
- Stomach Cancer
- Cervical Cancer
- Kidney Cancer
- Mouth Cancer
- Bladder Cancer
- Oesophageal cancer,
- laryngeal cancer,
- oropharyngeal cancer (throat cancer)
- Pancreatic cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Leukemias (blood cancer)
- Ovarian cancer
- Ureter cancer
- Cancer of the nose
- Cancer of the sinuses
- Endometrial cancer
- Breast cancer
- Cancer of the tongue
- Anal cancer
- Rectal cancer
List of cancer causing chemicals in tobacco (cigarette smoke)
Tobacco smoke contains around7,000 chemicals. Many of these are poisonous andover 60 are known to be cancer causing (carcinogenic).
The chemical constituents of cigarettes include:
- Ammonia
- Nicotine
- Tar
- Hexane
- Methane
- Hexamime
- Hydrogen cyanide
- Butane
- Cadmium
- Radon
- Ammonia
- Chromic
- Carbon monoxide
- Arsenic
- Acetone
- Toluene
- Pesticides
- Methylamine
- Polonium – 210
- Methanol
- NNN (N-nitrosonornicotine)
- NNK (4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanon)
- acetaldehyde
- acroleïn
- benzene
- benzo[a]pyrene
- 1,3-butadiene
- formaldehyde
There are many ways that the combination of harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke can cause cancer in the human body:
- Some have been found to damage DNA.
The DNA in all our cells controls how they behave. If DNA is damaged, things can go wrong. For example, a chemical, benzo(a)pyrene causes damage specifically at a part of the DNA that normally protects our cells from cancer.
- This is already bad news for our bodies, but the cocktail of chemicals in tobacco smoke is even more dangerous as a mix.
For example, chromium can make other harmful chemicals stick more strongly to DNA. So, it is even more likely that damaged cells will eventually turn cancerous.
- Chemicals in tobacco smoke harm the cleaning system that our bodies use to remove toxins, so smokers are less able to handle toxic chemicals than those with healthy lungs and blood.
Each cigarette can damage DNA, and it is the build up of damage in the same cell that can lead to cancer.
- Poisons in cigarette smoke can weaken the body’s immune system, making it harder to kill cancer cells. When this happens, cancer cells keep growing without being stopped.
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