by Suzy Herrington

B.S., Health Educator Hult Center for Health Education

Almost everyone knows what a cigarette is. Basically, its dried tobacco rolled in white paper, with a cellulose acetate filter. However, what may surprise people is exactly what goes into making those addictive cancer sticks. Inside the rolled paper is tobacco that has been treated with approximately 600 ingredients. When burned, cigarettes create more than 7,000 chemical compounds, of which at least 250 are known to be harmful and at least 70 are proven to cause cancer. Among the long list of toxic chemicals found inside cigarettes, here are some you might recognize:

· Acetone – Found in nail polish remover

· Acetic Acid- Found in hair dye

· Ammonia- A common household cleaner

· Arsenic – Used in rat poison

· Benzene – Used in rubber cement & found in gasoline

· Butane- Used in lighter fluid

· Cadmium – A component of battery acid

· Carbon Monoxide – Released in car exhaust

· Formaldehyde – Used to embalm dead bodies

· Hydrogen Cyanide- Used in chemical weapons

· Lead – Used in batteries

· Methanol – Main component in rocket fuel

· Tar – Material for paving roads

· Toluene – Used in paint thinners

· Vinyl Chloride – Used to make pipes

Considering these ingredients, it’s easy to see why cigarette smoking causes all sorts of health problems for the user, as well as those exposed to secondhand smoke. Immediate health consequences include; increased stress, changes to brain cells (from nicotine), increased phlegm production, airway irritability, cough, decreased physical performance, plaque buildup in artery walls, blood clot development, constricted blood vessels, increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, acid reflux and weakened immune system. Long-term use and/or exposure to tobacco smoke is known to cause cancer (lung, larynx, oral, bladder, pancreas, uterus, cervix, kidney, stomach and esophagus), respiratory disease and heart disease.

Given all of these consequences, there are many good reasons not to smoke. If someone decides to stop smoking, the benefits of quitting begin within twenty minutes. Some of those benefits include:

· 20 minutes after quitting: Your blood pressure and pulse rate return to normal

· 12 hours after quitting: Your blood oxygen level will increase to normal

· 48 hours after quitting: Your sense of smell and taste begin to become normal

· 1 year after quitting: Your risk of heart disease is cut in half

· 2-5 years after quitting: Your risk of stroke has declined to that of a non-smoker.

· 5-15 years after quitting: Your chance of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, and bladder is cut in half.

Do you or someone you know want to quit smoking but don’t know how? Well there is hope and help available through the Illinois Tobacco Quitline. The Quitline is staffed by Registered Nurses, Respiratory Therapists and Tobacco Addiction Specialists, who want to help you quit! All services are completely confidential and available free of charge. If the individual proceeds with phone counseling, they will be able to access eight weeks of free nicotine-replacement patches (NRT’s) as provided by the Peoria County Health Department, in collaboration with the American Lung Association.

Let today be the day you quit smoking. Call the Quitline at 1-866-QUIT-YES to find out how.