There is no safe level of use for commercial tobacco products.
Smoked Tobacco:
Cigarettes, Cigars, Little Cigars, Cigarillos, Water-Pipe/Hookah
Smoked tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide.
The highest health risks with smoking include heart attack, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, and cancers of the lung, larynx, mouth, and pancreas. All of which can be deadly.
A person's level of risk depends on many variables including the product theyre smoking (some have higher levels of tar than others), the length and duration of their addiction and inherited or environmental risk factors.
Cigarettes contain more than 4,000 different chemicals. Sixty of these chemicals are known to cause, promote, or trigger cancers. They also contain carcinogenic pyrolytic products that bind to DNA and can cause genetic mutations.
Contraband products (illegal, or counterfeit tobacco products, typically sold very cheaply) are equally dangerous and generally contain the same 4,000 chemicals as legal cigarettes.
Second-Hand Smoke:
Second-hand Smoke, is the third leading cause of preventable death, after active smoking and alcohol abuse.
Exposure to second-hand smoke causes a number of fatal and non-fatal health effects in non-smokers including:
- causes cancers of the lung, larynx, and pancreas and can promote others
- aggrevates pre-existing conditions like angina, and asthma
- can cause low birth weight and other complications during and after pregnancy
- can increase the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
For more information on second-hand smoke and children, or for ways to make your home smoke free, click here.
Smokeless Tobacco:
Chew, Snuff, Snus, Dip
Smokeless tobacco is not a safe alternative to smoking commercial tobacco products.
While you dont inhale chemicals with smokeless tobacco, most of the same chemicals found within cigarettes are instead absorbed through the mucus membranes of the mouth and nose with this alternative.
There is also more than 5X the amount of nicotine in chew tobacco then in smoked tobacco. Youth who dip on average use one tin per day which equals a 5 1/4 pack a day habit. That's about 125 cigarettes a day and a pretty tough addiction.
In the short term, a smokeless tobacco user would experience gingivitis, red and inflamed gums, dragons breath, hairy tongue, tooth decay, and loss.
But over the long term, a smokeless tobacco user's chance of developing cancer is 50X that of a non-user. This can include cancer of the pharynx, cheek, lip, tongue, larynx, esophagus, bladder, nose, and sinuses. It also causes heart disease and atherosclerosis (plaque build up in the arteries which can lead to heart attack).
Smokeless tobacco is extremely irritating to the mucous membranes in the mouth. The damage is made worse by the fact that the tobacco product is held in one area of the mouth for prolonged periods of time.
When the skin cells divide and multiply, they are exposed to the carcinogenic chemicals. Oral cancers are quite aggressive and spread quickly.
The surgery used to treat and hopefully cure an oral cancer may involve the removal of parts of the jaw, cheek, lip or tongue. Those that survive are often disfigured with speech and eating disabilities.
Oral cancers can result from as little as a 6 year habit. The length of time and the amount used increases the risk.
Warning Signs of Oral Cancers
If you are a user of smokeless tobacco, make sure you are checking your mouth often. Dont forget to lift your tongue and look underneath, on the sides, your cheek, the roof of your mouth (the palate) and the inside of your lip where you store your dip.
You should see a dentist or doctor if you notice:
- a sore on the lip, tongue, or cheek that does not heal
- a lump on the lip, tongue or cheek
- a white or red patch on your gums, tongue, or lining of the mouth
- unusual pain, numbness, or bleeding
- a sore throat that wont go away
- difficulty or pain when chewing or swallowing
- swelling in your jaw
- a change in your voice
more information about these and more health facts, visit:
Physicians for a Smoke Free Canada
Ontario Campaign for Action on Tobacco
The Canadian Cancer Society
The Ontario Dental Association