what is cigarettes made of?

Although nicotine is a very addictive substance it's relatively harmless. It's the carbon monoxide, tar and other toxic chemicals in tobacco smoke that will cause serious damage to your health.

Clean forms of nicotine are licensed to help smokers quit. These are much safer than smoking as they're nicotine only, don't have other additives or toxic chemicals, and are proven to be safe and effective.

Read more about nicotine replacement therapy

Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas which takes the place of oxygen in your blood. This forces your heart to work much harder and stops your lungs from working properly.

Your cells and tissues will be prevented from getting the oxygen they need. This can lead to heart disease and stroke.

If you smoke during your pregnancy, carbon monoxide prevents your baby getting the oxygen it needs.

Read more about smoking and pregnancy

Tar is the sticky brown substance that stains smokers' teeth and fingers yellow-brown. It contains cancer causing particles (carcinogens).

Tar damages your lungs by narrowing the small tubes (bronchioles) that absorb oxygen. It also damages the small hairs (cilia) that help protect your lungs from dirt and infection. This can lead to a range of lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and emphysema.

Tobacco comes in many forms including:

Cigarettes are the most common type of tobacco product in Scotland. Cigarette tobacco products contain:

The additives are used to make the cigarette more palatable to the user. 600 different additives are currently permitted for use in cigarettes in the UK, such as:

These additives can be toxic when combined with other substances or when burned during smoking.

Many people who smoke roll-ups don't use a filter, so they also end up inhaling more tar and nicotine and therefore become highly addicted and dependent on their habit.

Roll-ups are at least as harmful for you as ordinary cigarettes, and can cause the same health risks. Studies have suggested that people who smoke roll-ups also have an increased risk of cancer of the mouth, oesophagus, pharynx and larynx compared to smokers of manufactured cigarettes.

This is tobacco that has been smuggled into Scotland illegally. This can be packaged to look like your regular brand. It can be either rolling tobacco or cigarettes. Whilst it may be cheaper than legal tobacco, it comes at a cost.

The ingredients of illicit tobacco aren't known or regulated. Whilst no tobacco is safe, illicit tobacco could contain higher levels of harmful chemicals.

If you've used illicit tobacco before you can save even more money, without risking your health, by stopping smoking completely.

• nicotine.
• carbon monoxide.
• tar.
• toxic chemicals such as benzene, arsenic and formaldehyde.

Although nicotine is a very addictive substance it's relatively harmless. It's the carbon monoxide, tar and other toxic chemicals in tobacco smoke that will cause serious damage to your health.

Clean forms of nicotine are licensed to help smokers quit. These are much safer than smoking as they're nicotine only, don't have other additives or toxic chemicals, and are proven to be safe and effective.

Read more about nicotine replacement therapy

Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas which takes the place of oxygen in your blood. This forces your heart to work much harder and stops your lungs from working properly.

Your cells and tissues will be prevented from getting the oxygen they need. This can lead to heart disease and stroke.

If you smoke during your pregnancy, carbon monoxide prevents your baby getting the oxygen it needs.

Read more about smoking and pregnancy

Tar is the sticky brown substance that stains smokers' teeth and fingers yellow-brown. It contains cancer causing particles (carcinogens).

Tar damages your lungs by narrowing the small tubes (bronchioles) that absorb oxygen. It also damages the small hairs (cilia) that help protect your lungs from dirt and infection. This can lead to a range of lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and emphysema.

Tobacco comes in many forms including:

Cigarettes are the most common type of tobacco product in Scotland. Cigarette tobacco products contain:

The additives are used to make the cigarette more palatable to the user. 600 different additives are currently permitted for use in cigarettes in the UK, such as:

These additives can be toxic when combined with other substances or when burned during smoking.

Many people who smoke roll-ups don't use a filter, so they also end up inhaling more tar and nicotine and therefore become highly addicted and dependent on their habit.

Roll-ups are at least as harmful for you as ordinary cigarettes, and can cause the same health risks. Studies have suggested that people who smoke roll-ups also have an increased risk of cancer of the mouth, oesophagus, pharynx and larynx compared to smokers of manufactured cigarettes.

This is tobacco that has been smuggled into Scotland illegally. This can be packaged to look like your regular brand. It can be either rolling tobacco or cigarettes. Whilst it may be cheaper than legal tobacco, it comes at a cost.

The ingredients of illicit tobacco aren't known or regulated. Whilst no tobacco is safe, illicit tobacco could contain higher levels of harmful chemicals.

If you've used illicit tobacco before you can save even more money, without risking your health, by stopping smoking completely.

Try our cost calculator to find out how much you could save by stopping smoking.

Roll-up tobacco cigarettes are not any safer. They contain the same cancer-causing chemicals as manufactured cigarettes.

Tar is a sticky-brown substance that collects in the lungs when you breath in cigarette smoke. It can stain fingers and teeth a yellow-brown colour.

Tar contains cancer-causing chemicals. But it can cause more than just lung cancer. It also increases the risk of other lung diseases. This includes emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Cigarette smoke contains a poisonous gas called carbon monoxide. You can’t smell, see or taste it.

Carbon monoxide stops your blood from carrying as much oxygen. This means your heart must work harder, and your organs don’t get the amount of oxygen they need. This increases your risk of heart disease and stroke.

Nicotine is a very addictive drug. Most people who smoke regularly don't do so out of choice – it’s because they have a nicotine addiction.

Some people associate smoking with feeling less stressed and anxious. But this is only because it reduces the unpleasant symptoms of nicotine withdrawal for a short time.

But nicotine is harmless compared to other substances in tobacco smoke. And studies have shown that nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) doesn't cause cancer.

NRT helps people deal with cravings when they are trying to cut down or stop smoking. It comes in many forms including patches, lozenges or gum.

Find out more on our how do I stop smoking page.

At least 70 of the chemicals found in tobacco smoke cause cancer. Many of these cancer-causing chemicals in tobacco smoke have other surprising uses.

There is no such thing as safe tobacco.

Smoking filtered, low-tar, or ‘light’ variations of cigarettes doesn't reduce overall risk of disease.

And since 2003 it's been against the law to call tobacco products ‘light’, ‘mild’ or ‘low-tar’ versions. Using these words can make people wrongly believe that they are safer or healthier options.

Each cigarette you smoke can lead to DNA damage. And it is the build-up of damage in the same cell that leads to cancer.

Here are some of the ways that harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke can cause damage in the body:

The DNA in all our cells controls how they grow and behave. If DNA is damaged, things can go wrong.

Some chemicals in cigarette smoke cause damage to parts of the DNA that normally protect our cells from cancer.  And this can lead to cancer cells growing out of control.

This is because there are chemicals in tobacco smoke that can make other harmful chemicals stick more strongly to DNA.

There are also chemicals that stop our cells from repairing DNA damage. This makes it even more likely that damaged cells will turn cancerous.

For example, chemicals in cigarette smoke kill cilia. Cilia are the little hairs which usually keep our airways clear from dirt and infections.

This means people who smoke are less able to handle toxic chemicals than those with healthy lungs and blood.

If you smoke, the best thing you can do for your health is to stop – it could even save you thousands of pounds each year. The NHS has a calculator to work out how much you could save by stopping smoking.

Stopping can be difficult, but it is possible. And the number of people who have stopped smoking is increasing.

Using prescription medicine with support of a free, local stop smoking service, is most likely to help you to stop for good. But how you chose to quit is up to you.

Drope J, Cahn Z, Kennedy R, et al. Key issues surrounding the health impacts of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and other sources of nicotine. CA Cancer J Clin. 2017;87(6):449-471.

Herrington JS, Myers C. Electronic cigarette solutions and resultant aerosol profiles. J Chromatogr A. 2015;1418:192-199.

Karagueuzian HS, White C, Sayre J, Norman A. Cigarette smoke radioactivity and lung cancer risk. Nicotine Tob Res. 2012;14:79-90.

National Cancer Institute. Smokeless Tobacco and Cancer. 2010. Accessed at https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/tobacco/smokeless-fact-sheet on October 2, 2020.

Shousha HA, Ahmad F. Natural radioactivity contents in tobacco and radiation dose induced from smoking. Radiat Prot Dosimetry. 2012;150:91-95.

Simonavicius E, McNeill A, Shahab L, et al. Heat-not-burn tobacco products: A systematic literature review. Tob Control. 2019;28:582-594.

Stepanov I, Jensen J, Hatsukami D, Hecht SS. New and traditional smokeless tobacco: Comparison of toxicant and carcinogen levels. Nicotine Tob Res. 2008;10:1773-1782.

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cigarette Smoking and Radiation. 2015. Accessed at https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/radiation/smoking.htm on October 2, 2020.

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Heated Tobacco Products. 2020. Accessed at https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/heated-tobacco-products/index.html on October 2, 2020.

US Department of Health and Human Services. How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease: A Report of the Surgeon General. 2010. Accessed at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK53017/ on October 5, 2020.

US Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking---50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General. 2014. Accessed at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK179276/  on October 5, 2020.

NicotineNicotine is a colourless, poisonous alkaloid derived from the tobacco plant. It is a powerful drug, which affects the brain and quickly becomes addictive.

Tar‘Tar’ is the term used to describe the toxic chemicals found in cigarettes. It’s a sticky brown substance that forms when tobacco cools and condenses. It collects in the lungs and can cause cancer.

Carbon monoxideAn odourless, colourless gas that is released from burning tobacco. When it is inhaled it enters the blood stream and interferes with the working of the heart and the blood vessels. Up to 15% of a smoker’s blood can be carrying carbon monoxide instead of oxygen.

ArsenicArsenic-containing pesticides used in tobacco farming occur in small quantities in cigarette smoke. Arsenic is commonly found in rat poison.

AmmoniaAmmonia is a toxic, colourless gas with a sharp odour. Ammonia compounds are commonly used in cleaning products and fertilisers. Also used to boost the impact of nicotine in manufactured cigarettes.

AcetoneFragrant volatile liquid ketone, used as a solvent. Nail polish remover is a solvent, for example.

TolueneToluene is a highly toxic chemical. Industrial uses include rubbers, oils, resins, adhesives, inks, detergents, dyes and explosives.

MethylamineChemical found in tanning lotion.

PesticidesA number of pesticides (toxic chemicals used to kill pests, usually insects) are present in cigarette smoke. These pesticides find their way into cigarettes because they’re used on tobacco plants as they are growing.

Polonium – 210Radioactive element – used in nuclear weapons as well as an atomic heat source.

The basic components of most cigarettes are tobacco, chemical additives, a filter, and paper wrapping. The user burns the tobacco and inhales the smoke. Smokers are exposed to a toxic mix of over 7,000 chemicals, including more than 70 that can cause cancer, when they inhale cigarette smoke.