Harmful Chemicals in Tobacco Products
All types of tobacco products have chemicals that can be harmful to your health. These chemicals have been linked to cancer, heart disease, and lung disease, and they can cause damage to a developing fetus in a pregnant woman.
Tobacco products also include nicotine. Since nicotine is addictive, you may have a hard time quitting tobacco and continue to be exposed to these chemicals.
Tobacco smoke
Cigarettes, cigars, and pipe tobacco are made from dried tobacco leaves. Other chemicals are often added for flavor and to make smoking more pleasant. The smoke from these products is a complex mixture of chemicals made by burning tobacco and its additives.
Carcinogens
Tobacco smoke is made up of thousands of chemicals, including at least 70 chemicals known to cause cancer. These cancer-causing chemicals are referred to as carcinogens. Some of the carcinogens found in tobacco smoke include:
- Acetaldehyde
- Arsenic
- Benzene
- Cadmium
- Formaldehyde
- Hydrazine
- Lead
- Nickel
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
- Radioactive elements, such as uranium-235, polonium-210 (see below)
- Tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs)
- Vinyl chloride
These substances are known to cause cancer. Some can also cause heart disease, lung disease, or damage to a developing fetus in a pregnant woman. Most of the substances come from the burning tobacco leaves themselves.
Radioactive materials in tobacco smoke
Radioactive materials are found in the tobacco leaves used to make cigarettes and cigars. They come from the fertilizer and soil used to grow the tobacco leaves. The amount of radioactive materials in tobacco leaves depends on the soil the plants were grown in and the type of fertilizers used.
These radioactive materials are given off in the smoke you inhale when you use cigarettes or cigars. Long-term exposure to this radiation can damage your lungs and increase the damage caused by other carcinogens. This might increase your risk for lung cancer.
Is cigar smoke different?
Cigar smoke has many of the same toxic and carcinogenic compounds as cigarette smoke. But how much you are exposed to these compounds may be different.
Because of the aging process used to make cigars, cigar tobacco has high concentrations of some nitrogen compounds (nitrates and nitrites). When cigar tobacco is smoked, these compounds give off several tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs).TSNAs are some of the most potent cancer-causing compounds known.
Also, because cigar wrappers are less porous than cigarette wrappers, the tobacco doesn’t burn as completely. This results in higher concentrations of nitrogen oxides, ammonia, carbon monoxide, and tar. These are all very harmful substances that may lead to lung cancer.
Learn more: Health Risks of Smoking Tobacco
Smokeless tobacco products
There are several types of smokeless tobacco including dip, snuff, snus, and chewing tobacco. Nicotine pouches, recreational lozenges, strips, sticks, and small pouches of tobacco are also considered smokeless tobacco. They are put into the mouth or nose, but they are not burned like cigarettes or cigars.
Most smokeless tobacco products are made from tobacco leaves, so they have many of the same harmful chemicals as cigars and cigarettes. This includes high levels of tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs), polonium-210 (a radioactive element) and other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
These carcinogens are absorbed through the mouth or nose and have been linked to several types of cancer.
Snus
Snus (pronounced ‘snoose’) is a type of moist snuff that doesn’t require spitting. Snus generally has lower levels of nicotine and TSNAs than traditional moist snuff brands, but it can still be addictive. Snus has been linked to some types of cancer.
Dissolvable products
Dissolvable products are forms of smokeless tobacco that come in different shapes and sizes. This includes recreational lozenges, orbs, pellets, thin strips, and sticks. Depending on the type, they are held in the mouth, chewed, or sucked until they dissolve.
Like other tobacco products, dissolvable tobacco products have nicotine and other chemicals that have been linked to cancer, heart disease, lung disease, and damage to a developing fetus in a pregnant woman.
Heated tobacco products
These are sometimes called “heat-not-burn” products. They usually use an electronic heating element which heats specially designed sticks, plugs, or capsules containing tobacco.
The heat releases nicotine (and other chemicals) that can then be inhaled into the lungs. These devices are not the same as e-cigarettes. Heated tobacco products give off many of the same harmful and potentially harmful chemicals as cigarettes and cigars.
On average, smokeless tobacco products kill fewer people than cigarettes. They are often promoted as a less harmful alternative to smoking, but many have still been linked with cancer. Some products may expose users to lower levels of harmful chemicals than regular cigarettes. But this doesn’t mean they are safe.
No smokeless tobacco product has been proven to help people quit smoking.
Learn more: Health Risks of Smokeless Tobacco
E-cigarettes and similar devices
Makers of e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems often claim the ingredients are safe. But the aerosols (mixtures of very small particles) that come out of them can contain addictive nicotine, flavorings, and other chemicals. Some of these chemicals are known to be toxic or to cause cancer.
The levels of many of these chemicals appear to be lower than in traditional cigarettes. But these products aren’t standardized, so the amounts of nicotine and other substances can vary widely. The long-term health effects of these devices aren't yet known.
Learn more: Health Risks of E-Cigarettes
- Written by
- References
The American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team
Our team is made up of doctors and oncology certified nurses with deep knowledge of cancer care as well as editors and translators with extensive experience in medical writing.
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US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Heated Tobacco Products. Accessed at https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/other-tobacco-products/heated-tobacco-products.html on September 27, 2024.
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US Food and Drug Administration. Harmful and Potentially Harmful Constituents in Tobacco Products and Tobacco Smoke: Established List. 2019. Accessed at https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/rules-regulations-and-guidance/harmful-and-potentially-harmful-constituents-tobacco-products-and-tobacco-smoke-established-list on September 25, 2024.
Last Revised: November 19, 2024
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