Smoking
Smoke, too, are millions of tiny particles, called
particulate matter. It is this matter which, upon condensation, forms of own
mass called tar.
Tar contains nicotine and more than a dozen known to trigger
cancer when applied to the skin or breathing of laboratory animals. The
chemicals are called carcinogenic of their cancer-producing activity. In
studies in which one of the chemicals benzpyrene, has been diluted 1,000 times
and placed in partition of pellets implanted in the cheek pouches of hamsters,
90 percent of the animals have developed mouth cancer within 25 weeks.
Nicotine, a colorless oily compound, occurs in cigarettes in a range of 1 to 2
milligrams. In concentrated form, nicotine is a potent poison and 10 milligrams,
which form about one drop, will if injected kill an average human. Among the
other chemicals in cigarette smoke are phenols, which interfere with the action
of the cilia, the hair like projections which line the respiratory tract and
have a protective action.
Other chemicals are Irritants contributing to cigarette
cough, and some are believed to be involved in the gradual deterioration of the
lungs in emphysema. The person just beginning to smoke experiences symptoms of
mild nicotine poisoning, such as rapid pulse, faintness, dizziness, nausea, and
clammy skin. Sometimes even long-experienced smokers develop one or more of the
symptoms.
