What's in cigarette smoke?

Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals and poisons, including more than 70 that are known to cause cancer. Some of the poisons and chemicals in cigarette smoke are:

• carbon monoxide (found in your car’s exhaust)
• ammonia (found in window cleaners)
• cadmium (found in batteries)
• arsenic (found in rat poison) 

When you smoke, many of these chemicals mix together and form a sticky tar. The tar sticks to tiny hairs that line the insides of your lungs – hairs that are supposed to keep your lungs clean by sweeping out dirt and germs. But when they’re covered in tar, they can’t do their job properly. This is what leads to smoker’s cough to spit up the dirt that’s still in your lungs. It also leads to many other health problems.

Nicotine
Nicotine is what makes smoking cigarettes so addictive. This drug makes your body crave more cigarettes and that means inhaling all those chemicals.

Don’t be fooled by light or mild
Many smokers of low-tar and low-nicotine brands think they are reducing their health risks from smoking. They believe they inhale less tar compared to regular cigarettes.

They don't. Regular smokers who switch to low-tar and low-nicotine cigarettes tend to adjust their smoking habits by inhaling deeper or longer or covering up the ventilation holes to get enough nicotine. This also means they’re inhaling more chemicals and tar.