Toxic Chemical SoupModule 2

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Smoking causes an estimated 443,000 deaths each year. That’s nearly one-out-of-five deaths!

Can using tobacco cause harm? Yes, tobacco use is the number one preventable cause of death in the United States.

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In North Carolina, tobacco-related illnesses cause the death of more than 13,000 people each year—35 people every day.

Can using tobacco cause harm? Yes, tobacco use is the number one preventable cause of death in North Carolina.

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Tobacco smoke is made up of a toxic mix of chemicals.

What is in tobacco that is so bad? Tobacco contains over 7,000 chemicals.

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• Chemicals in tobacco smoke damage your cells.

• When you keep smoking, the damage cannot heal.

• This stress can lead to disease.

So, what is so bad about that? Tobacco use harms your body.

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Among the 7,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, about 70 can cause cancer. Some of these cancer-causing chemicals include

• Benzene (leukemia)• Formaldehyde (leukemia and

brain cancer)• Nicotine (poison)• Cyanide (death)

What are some of the cancer-causing chemicals found in tobacco smoke?

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What are some of the toxic metals found in tobacco smoke?

Toxic metals include

• Arsenic (used in pesticides)

• Lead (formerly found in paint)

• Chromium (used to make steel)

• Cadmium (used to make batteries)

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What are some of the poisonous gases found in tobacco smoke?

Poisonous gases include

• Carbon monoxide (found in car exhaust)

• Hydrogen cyanide (used in the gas chambers in Nazi Germany)

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Slide 3: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2008. “Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Productivity Losses—United States, 2000–2004.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 57(45):1226–1228.

Slide 4: • North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics. 2010. “Mortality Statistics Summary for 2009

North Carolina Residents.” http://www.epi.state.nc.us/SCHS/deaths/lcd/2009/allcauses.html• North Carolina Institute of Medicine. 2011. “Prevention for the Health of North Carolina: Prevention Action Plan.”

http://www.nciom.org/wp-content/uploads/NCIOM/projects/prevention/finalreport/Prevention-Chptr3_july2010.pdfSlides 5 and 6: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2010. 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.

Slide 7: National Cancer Institute. 2011. “Harms of Smoking and Health Benefits of Quitting.” http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Tobacco/cessation

Slide 8: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2007. “The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Secondhand Smoke Is Toxic and Poisonous.” http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/secondhandsmoke/factsheets/factsheet9.html

Slide 9: About.com. 2011. “Chemicals in Cigarettes: What They Are and How They Harm Us.” Smoking Cessation. http://quitsmoking.about.com/od/chemicalsinsmoke/a/chemicalshub.htm

References

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Slides 1-2: Photographs courtesy of iStockphoto.

Slide 3: Photograph courtesy of Jan Sandvik/Photos.com.

Slide 4: Photograph courtesy of Photos.com.

Slide 5: Photograph courtesy of Thinkstock/Photos.com.

Slide 6: Photograph courtesy of Carolina K. Smith, MD/Photos.com.

Slide 7: Image courtesy of RTI International.

Slide 8: Photograph courtesy of Dragan Trifunovic/Photos.com.

Slide 9: Photograph courtesy of Stefan Redel/Photos.com.

Photographs are used for illustrative purposes only, and any persons depicted are models.

Photograph Credits

Prepared by Sterling Fulton-Smith, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services; Sandhya Joshi, RTI International; Caley Burrus, Duke

University; Ronny Bell, Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity; and Barri Burrus, RTI International.

March 2012