MORE ON TOBACCO

Tobacco smoke apart from being an air pollutant had proved to be very toxic. It was recognised that about 90% of cigarette smoke is made up of tiny poisonous gasses or chemicals that are said to be about 4,000 in number. The remaining 10% constituted particles.

Included among the poisonous gasses is carbon monoxide, a very well known deadly gas present in automobile exhaust fumes. When oxygen from the air enters the bloodstream it is easily combined with the haemoglobin in the red blood cell. Under such normal circumstances oxygen is then transported to all the cells in the body. As smoking takes place, oxygen and carbon monoxide enter the blood stream together, thereby competing for haemoglobin in the red blood cells. The power of carbon monoxide combined with haemoglobin is about 230 times greater than that of oxygen. As such, with carbon monoxide combining with haemoglobin, a new product is produced named carboxyhaemoglobin. Consequently as blood levels of this product increases. The oxygen supply in the blood decreases. In the final result, the essential body tissues are deprived of needed oxygen. Under severe condition, it ends in the damage of heart, blood vessels and other organs. It can lead to suffocation noted for shortness of breath, reddening of the skin, faintness and a collapse of the affected person at last.

Among the particulates in tobacco is nicotine, considered now as the most powerful addictive drug in tobacco. When smoke enters the lungs, nicotine is also absorbed into the bloodstream. It causes the blood vessels to narrow; thus increases blood pressure. As a result, the heart's workload can increase by as much as twenty-eight beats per minute. Nicotine is indeed toxic; for a fatal dose is said to be just about 100 milligrams. In addition, there are about 60 carcinogenic substances in tobacco smoke, out of which 50 are found in tar, the cancer-producing agent. Tar contains a combination of cancer producing and cancer promoting substances. It causes a by-product formed when tobacco smoke condenses.

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