Fast Facts & More
Fast Facts About Tobacco
- When you smoke, you breathe over 4,000 chemicals including these
poisons:
- Acetone - commonly used in nail polish remover and as an automotive fuel additive.
- Arsenic - used as poison for pest control.
- Nicotine - formerly used as an insecticide. It causes blood vessels to constrict and an increase in heart rate and blood pressure.
- Hydrogen Cyanide - used in chemical warfare, industries for fumigation, insecticide, metal plating and photography.
- Formaldehyde - used to preserve dead bodies.
- More than 50 of these chemicals are known to cause cancer. 1
- Nicotine is an addictive drug that affects the brain and nervous system. At higher doses, nicotine is a poison that has been used as an insecticide. 2
- Nicotine reaches the brain within 10 seconds. 3
- Approximately 48,000 Canadians die each year from smoking, 4 and tobacco use is responsible for more deaths than murders, alcohol-related deaths, car accidents, and suicides combined. 5
- Over 85% of lung cancer cases are caused by smoking. 6
- Spit tobacco, cigars and low-tar cigarettes are not safe alternatives to cigarettes. 7
- Approximately 87% of Durham Region Youth aged 12-19 do not smoke. 8
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