Nicotine is Nicotine, and Tobacco is Tobacco
There are approximately 600 ingredients in a cigarette, and when burned, creates more than 7,000 chemicals. Would it surprise you to learn that every time a person smokes a cigarette, they are inhaling the following chemicals?
- Formaldehyde (embalming fluid)
- Hydrogen Cyanide (fumigant to kill insects and rodents, historically a chemical warfare agent)
- Arsenic (rat poison)
- Carbon Monoxide (car tailpipe fumes)
- Polonium (highly radioactive, heat source in space missions)
- Butane (lighter fluid)
- Toluene (industrial solvent)
- Acetone (paint stripper)
- Ammonia (toilet cleaner)
- Cadmium (batteries)
- Lead (batteries)
- Tar (roofing, road construction)
- Benzene (natural component of crude oil)
- Methanol (flammable alcohol used in plastics, paints, fuels)
- Naphthalene (used in mothballs and insect repellent)
- Nicotine
To Inhale or Not to Inhale – Either Way is Equally Harmful and Dangerous
The combination of smoking and absorbing nicotine and other chemicals through the use of cigarettes, vaping devices, nicotine patches, or chewing tobacco, can negatively impact driving skills by decreasing energy, attention, and cognition, rather than enhancing it. Furthermore, the vapor in many vaping devices contains lead, known to cause brain damage.
Would you put your nose in the tailpipe of your car and inhale the carbon monoxide? Of course you wouldn’t! But carbon monoxide is one of the many 7,000 plus chemicals in tobacco a cigarette or vaper user inhales!
Of those 7,000 plus chemicals, at least 250 of the chemicals are known to be extremely harmful including hydrogen cyanide, ammonia, and again, carbon monoxide. If you read our past blogs on stroke and heart attacks, you learned how quickly- in a matter of 4-6 minutes, how a person can die from a lack of oxygen to the brain or the heart. While a person could survive a stroke or heart attack, it’s the permanent damage done to either organ from the lack of oxygen. This is why carbon monoxide is extremely harmful; it takes up available oxygen in the blood, depriving the heart, brain, and other vital organs (brain, heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, skin, intestines, and bladder) of oxygen.
Of those 7,000 plus chemicals, at least 250 of the chemicals are known to be extremely harmful including hydrogen cyanide…
It has also been found that the nicotine in one E-cigarette alone can be equivalent to 50 cigarettes! They are not safer or less addictive, and factually contain more nicotine than a traditional cigarette.
It Really Comes Down to the Nicotine and 7,000 Plus Chemicals
While giving up smoking from cigarettes or a vaping device is commendable and a first step in the right direction, continuing the use of any alternative nicotine products has equally harmful downfalls as well. One of the ways nicotine is harmful is by prematurely narrowing the blood vessels, better known as the arteries. When this occurs, plaque can form which can:
- Lead to high blood pressure
- Increase the risk of blood clots
- Increase the heart rate
- Create irregular heart rhythms
- Cause shortness of breath
- Lead to a heart attack
Other health impacts that can directly affect a driver’s performance on the road include:
- A decrease in cognition or ability to think and remember, and the ability to focus and react
- The formation of blood clots and a potential stroke from long periods of sitting
- An increase in blood sugar levels, which could cause one to pass out
- An elevated heart rate or blood pressure could also potentially cause one to pass out
To learn tips on quitting and the benefits of complete cessation – from the first 20 minutes and all the way to 15 years out, follow us for our next article in this series.
These statements are not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any illness. Always consult with your physician if you have any concerns or questions.
