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Way more than most people think. Cigarette smoke contains over 7,000 chemicals, and more than 80 of them can cause cancer. So, every drag is a mix of toxic chemicals going into your body.
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS). A Report of the Surgeon General: How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: What It Means to You (Consumer Booklet). Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2010.
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Li, Y., & Hecht, S. S. (2022). Carcinogenic components of tobacco and tobacco smoke: A 2022 update. Food and chemical toxicology : an international journal published for the British Industrial Biological Research Association, 165, 113179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2022.113179
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Yes. Cigarette smoke contains formaldehyde, which is the same chemical used to embalm dead bodies.
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS). A Report of the Surgeon General: How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: What It Means to You (Consumer Booklet). Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2010.
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Both—Some of the chemicals in tobacco are present in the plant itself and some are created as the cigarette burns. For example, acetaldehyde is produced when the cigarette burns and it is a cancer-causing chemical that can cause permanent lung damage when inhaled.
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Cancer Research UK. Source of the chemicals in cigarettes. http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/healthyliving/smokingandtobacco/whatsinacigarette/wheredothesechemicalscomefrom. Updated 2009. Accessed August 18, 2014.
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS). How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2010.
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS). The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Coordinating Center for Health Promotion, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2006.
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Inside your airways are tiny hairs called cilia that help clean out dirt and mucus to keep your lungs clear. Smoking damages and destroys these cilia. Without them working properly, you get “smokers’ cough” because your body makes more mucus when you smoke and the cilia can’t clear it.
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS). A Report of the Surgeon General: How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: What It Means to You (Consumer Booklet). Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2010.
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Smoking cigarettes affects your heart and blood in serious ways. Smoking changes your blood chemistry, which can lead to dangerous clots. Those clots can block blood flow and cause things like heart attacks or strokes.
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS). A Report of the Surgeon General: How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: What It Means to You (Consumer Booklet). Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2010.
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS). Let’s Make the Next Generation Tobacco-Free: Your Guide to the 50th Anniversary Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health (Consumer Booklet). Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2014.
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It might be harder than you think. Data shows that most teens who smoke want to quit, and most try but fail. Because of nicotine addiction, three out of four teen smokers end up becoming adult smokers, even if they planned to quit after a few years. For resources to help you quit, check out: Smokefree Teen.
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS). Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults (Fact Sheet). Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2012.
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Zhang L, Gentzke A, Trivers KF, VanFrank B. Tobacco Cessation Behaviors Among U.S. Middle and High School Students, 2020. J Adolesc Health. 2022 Jan;70(1):147-154.
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It can be. For some teens, even smoking as little as one cigarette a month can start showing symptoms of addiction. It doesn’t take being a “heavy smoker” to get pulled in—what feels casual can turn into something your brain starts craving more of.
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Ursprung WW, DiFranza JR. The loss of autonomy over smoking in relation to lifetime cigarette consumption. Addictive Behaviors. 2010; 35(1):14-18.
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Doubeni CA, Reed G, DiFranza JR. Early course of nicotine dependence in adolescent smokers. Pediatrics. 2010; 125(6):1127-1133.
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