They say about some products that if people saw how and what they were made from, they would never buy and consume them. We are not going to clarify what kind of products are we talking about, because we would have to back up these statements with at least some facts, and we are not faced with such a task at the moment. Now we are interested in one specific product, which the tobacco industry supplies us regularly. Is it possible to assume that if smokers saw what cigarettes are made of, they would give up their habit or at least significantly reduce the number of smoked “cancer sticks”, as doctors call cigarettes “gently”, not without a share of black humor?
If the idea of smoking tobacco belongs to the Indians, then the discovery of cigarettes or, rather, cigarettes belongs to the participants of the Crimean War. It was then that the soldiers of the Russian and Turkish armies realized to pour tobacco into paper sleeves from gunpowder. Then this method was adopted by English soldiers, and soon the first cigarette factory was opened in London, using a similar principle. And when the United States invented cigarette making machines, it became clear that the new industrial industry has very great prospects.
It is clear that serious competition immediately arose in the new market, and tobacco manufacturers became concerned about reducing production costs, which rarely affects quality for the better. So is the case with cigarettes. The times when natural tobacco leaves were used to make them quickly passed. Then it was already known that the whole thing, the whole effect of smoking - in nicotine. So, it was only necessary to ensure its sufficient content in the cigarette, and to fill it with something that could burn and produce smoke. And they went to try, who is what much.
What modern cigarettes are made of - today not every expert will figure it out right away. Actively began to use tobacco waste - crumbs, stems, streaks of leaves and other "dust". It is impregnated with all kinds of synthetic substances - in addition to the obligatory aqueous extract of nicotine, it is also a wide range of chemical fillers. There were more tastes and aromas from this, as well as harm to health.
Doctors have long been sounding the alarm: what cigarettes are made of is a serious danger to people . Tar smoke contains, for example, benzapyrene - a proven carcinogen that is dangerous even at negligible concentrations due to its pronounced bioaccumulation ability. The toxic heavy metal cadmium, which accumulates in the kidneys and reduces the mineral density of bone tissue, also enters the human body only through smoking. Arsenic is widely known as the strongest poison, as well as hydrocyanic acid, and polonium as a radioactive element emitting alpha particles. And all this muck is contained in tar smoke.
The story of how cigarettes are made will, of course, be incomplete without mentioning filters. Indeed, before cigarettes were equipped with an asbestos filter, then it was replaced by secondary cellulose acetate with various additives, for example, activated carbon. To some extent, the filter, of course, fulfills the function assigned to it - this was probably convinced by everyone who wondered what cigarettes are made of and “gutted” a cigarette butt, revealing a darkened filter, saturated with all kinds of muck. Nevertheless, to say that the filters completely neutralize the action of harmful and dangerous substances, alas, is not necessary - it delays something, it weakens something, and it passes through something unhindered.
It is no exaggeration to say that everything cigarettes are made of is not good for the body. Even paper, glue, tar and paint - they are not at all intended for internal use. In total, tobacco products contain about 4 thousand various chemical compounds, and tobacco smoke - all 5 thousand. Mendeleev's table, which doctors like to remember, is resting!