Will they ever think of a safe cigarette?

Tobacco is the only legal product that, when used for its intended purpose, kills people. Not only those who work in the healthcare sphere think so. For several decades, the scientific world has received documentary evidence of the harm of tobacco smoke. We know that cigarettes cause more than a dozen types of cancer, heart problems, stroke, respiratory diseases and other ailments. Why is smoking still not officially prohibited? Can all of the risks listed by us be ever eliminated and will scientists come up with safe cigarettes?

Tobacco carcinogens are too dangerous

On one side of the scale are people who enjoy smoking, on the other - a whole bunch of various dangerous diseases. According to Stephen Hecht, an employee of the University of Minnesota, there are no prerequisites for scientists to invent a safe way of smoking in the near future. The specialist works in the oncology center and studies the impact on the patient's body of tobacco carcinogens. In fact, cigarette smoke is a complex cocktail, which consists of four thousand components. Of all these chemicals and volatile compounds, at least 70 are known carcinogens. Mankind has been smoking for hundreds of years. However, until now no one has invented cigarettes with a reduced content of harmful products.

Half a century, the tobacco industry has been unsuccessfully solving this issue

In fact, the tobacco industry is working hard to create safe cigarettes for 50 years. Despite the controversial proposals in the form of easy options, it now becomes clear: there are no prerequisites for a breakthrough. It seems that the search for a safe version of smoking has reached a dead end. A journalist Will Storr told about attempts to create a harmless cigarette. The main mistake of the manufacturer is the emphasis on creating a safe filter. Unfortunately, this is not possible, since no stage in the production of tobacco products can rid the product of the carcinogens originally contained in the leaves. Even attempts to use such a heavy substance as an asbestos filter have failed completely. When heated, tobacco left in the mouth a taste of sulfur, burnt plastic and charcoal.

Carcinogens accumulate in tobacco leaves

Some heavy substances are found in tobacco leaves at the time of harvesting. Surprisingly, plants absorb all harmful substances, metals and metalloids contained in soil, water and atmosphere. Tobacco absorbs arsenic and cadmium from fertilizers. The leaves of the plant have sticky hairs that collect particles of radioactive elements from the air, for example polonium-210.

Their concentration increases in the following stages

Further, when drying tobacco leaves, the chemical substances present in their composition are converted into specific compounds, nitrosamines. And only then, when the smoker sets the cigarette on fire and brings it to the mouth, burning tobacco fills the smoke with carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide and a whole cocktail of carcinogens, among which are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Also in the cigarette smoke include volatile formaldehyde and benzene. Thus, while a person smokes one cigarette, his lungs are filled with dozens of dangerous chemical compounds.

The path of influence is of significance

It's not a secret that some of the carcinogens listed by us are contained in food. However, they undergo heat treatment during cooking and fermentation in the gastrointestinal tract. And only then the remnants of dangerous chemical compounds enter the blood. The smoker, while absorbing tobacco smoke, directly pollutes his body.

Why do not the tobacco filters work?

Some measures alone could potentially reduce the number of carcinogens in the smoke. For example, carbon filters absorb some of the volatile substances. But none of the proposed measures can not affect the entire list of hazardous compounds.

Nicotine Resins

We have not said a word about nicotine, since this substance is not a carcinogen. The problem is that nicotine gums cause strong addiction to tobacco. In addition, they increase the heart rate, narrow blood vessels and increase cholesterol. In fact, nicotine turns a person into a slave and makes every day inhale all these dangerous compounds, which we mentioned earlier.

Are there safer options?

If the tobacco smoke contains too many carcinogens, why not come up with a chewing, sucking or snuffing option? None of the alternatives now created does not save people from the heavy substances originally contained in the leaves of tobacco. The only exception can be considered snus, which dominates the Swedish market. According to experts, Scandinavians have lower rates of lung cancer compared with countries where traditional smoking is practiced.

Electronic cigarettes in theory are even safer than snus. However, no one knows what kind of impurities the smoker receives when he inhales. It is known that the production of electronic cigarettes is unregulated, which means that this alternative can not be trusted. It seems that society is doomed to eternal fierce debate.