Facts about tobacco clear the air

Staying fit, by Anya Petersen-Frey

This column is not intended to tug the heart strings or be an impassioned plea for all to quit smoking. This column will not ask to you avoid tobacco at all costs. This is about facts.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration states that cigarettes and smokeless tobacco should be considered nicotine delivery devices. Nicotine, the most active ingredient in tobacco, is inhaled into the lungs, where most of it stays. The rest of the nicotine moves into the bloodstream, reaching the brain in about 10 seconds and spreading throughout the rest of the body in about 20 seconds. Whether nicotine acts as a stimulant or tranquilizer depends on the circumstances and the amount consumed. The initial "kick" that is often experienced comes in part from the stimulation of the adrenal glands and the release of epinephrine into the blood stream. Nicotine, in and of itself, increases risk of disease including heart disease. However, when people smoke they're inhaling a lot more than nicotine.

Cigarette smoke contains more than 4,000 chemical compounds, including 60 that can cause cancer. There are also many toxic agents in cigarettes, some of which are created during the smoking process itself. A lighted cigarette generates more than 150 billion tar particles per cubic inch, which make up the visible portion of cigarette smoke.

Chemists at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company reported that cigarette smoke is 10,000 times more concentrated than the automobile pollution at rush hour on a freeway in a large city. The visible smoke, however, only contributes 5 to 8 percent to the total output of a cigarette. What can't be seen are the so-called vapors or gases. Besides nitrogen and oxygen, this vapor contains toxic gases such as carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, acrolein, hydrogen cyanide and nitrogen oxides. There are countless more.

According to an essay by Barbara Broughton in the Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, the carcinogens in cigarette smoke include: Acrolein, 4-Aminobiphenyl, Aromatic Amines, Aromatic Nitrohydrocarbons, Arsenic, Benzene, Benz{a}anthracene, Benzo{a}pyrene, Benzo {b}fluoranthene, Benzo {c}phenanthrene, Benzo{e}pyrene, Benzo{j}fluoranthene, Cadmium, Chromium, Chrysene, Dibenz{a,j}acridine, Dibenz{a,c}anthracene, Dibenz{a,h}acridine, Dibenzo{a,h}pyrene, Dibenzo{a,i}pyrene, Dibenzo{c,g}carbazole, Dichlorostilbene, 4-Ethycatechol, Formaldehyde, Hydrazine, Indeno{1,2,3-cd}pyrene, Methylchrysene, Mehtylfluoranthene, Mehtylnaphtalenes, 1-Methylindoles, 3-Methycatechol, 4-Methycatechol, 4-Methycatechol, 4(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-butanone, 2-Naphthylamine, Nickel, Nitropropane, Nitrosodimethylamine, Nitrosoethymethylamine, Nitrosodiethylamine, Nitrosodi-n-propylamine, Nitrosodi-n-butylamine, Nitrosopyrrolidine, Nitrosopiperidine, Nitrosomorpholine, N'-Nitrosonornicotine, N'-Nitrosoanabasine, N'-Nitrosoanatabine, Polonium-210 (Radon), Urethane and Vinyl Chloride.

Nonsmokers who are exposed to tobacco smoke are forced to take in these toxins. The smoke inhaled comes not only from the smoker but from the more toxic "sidestream" smoke -- the smoke from the end of the burning cigarette, cigar or pipe. Why is this more dangerous? The smoke exhaled by the smoker has been at least partly cleansed by the smoker's lungs so it contains fewer toxic chemicals; the smoke from the end of the tobacco product is all toxins.

Smoking is a leading cause of preventable death -- an average of almost 500,000 Americans die each year. Smoking increases the risk of lung, cervical and other cancers, emphysema, asthma and chronic bronchitis, heart attack, high blood pressure, stroke and hardening of the arteries. Smoking can damage fertility and lowers the body's ability to efficiently absorb vitamins and essential nutrients.

No one starts smoking with a goal of becoming addicted to nicotine. It isn't known how much nicotine must be consumed before the body becomes addicted. Once smoking is a habit, the smoker will face a lifetime of health risks.

Now it is up to each individual. Do you want to smoke? Do you want to quit?

Anya Petersen-Frey is a local fitness instructor.