Cigarette: One stick, 7000 dangers, by Hyelni Dauda Ndahi

Cigarette: One stick, 7000 dangers, by Hyelni Dauda Ndahi They saying: ‘one man’s food is another man’s poison’ does not hold truth here. Therefore, the next time you want to make some fume like a mill exhaust, remember that there is nothing good in a stick of cigarette. Also, each time you miss your buddy (the cigarette), take a look at this page and consider how you could be smoking life out of yourself. Cigarette smoking and tobacco use are acquired behaviors − activities that people choose to do – smoking is the most preventable cause of death in our society. But, the smokers perish because they lack knowledge; they simply don’t know of the dangers they cause their systems each time one more stick of cigarette is smoked. It is abundantly frightening to know that there are approximately 600 ingredients (additives) in cigarettes (American Lung Association, 2014). When burned, they create more than 7,000 chemicals. At least 69 of these chemicals are known to cause cancer, and 100 are poisonous. Many of these chemicals are also found in consumer products, but these products have warning labels. While the public is warned about the danger of the poisons in these products, there is no such warning for the toxins in tobacco smoke. One significant issue is that while all these chemical compounds have been approved as additives to food, they were not tested by burning. Burning changes the properties of chemicals. More than 7,000 chemical compounds are created by burning a cigarette, 69 of which are carcinogenic (capable of causing cancer). Toxic gases such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, nitrogen oxides and ammonia are found in cigarette smoke. Many governments impose restrictions on smoking tobacco, especially in public areas. The primary justification has been the negative health effects of second-hand smoke. Laws vary by country and locality. Bhutan is currently the only country in the world to completely outlaw the cultivation, harvesting, production and sale of tobacco and tobacco products under the ‘Tobacco Control Act of Bhutan 2010′. Well, since Nigeria has not illegalised the cultivation, transaction and use of tobacco products, one has to fall back on sensitization to help smokers see the dangers in smoking cigarette – perhaps; this will help redefine their attitude towards smoking. In verity, when a stick of cigarette is burned, a cancer-causing substance called Polonium 210 is produced. This Polonium 210 is Radioactive and very toxic. Another substance which is capable of causing cancer found in each burned stick of cigarette is Formaldehyde which is used to embalm dead bodies in morgues. Benzene, found in gasoline and rubber cement, is also produced when a stick of cigarette is smouldered. Cadmium is an active component in battery acid but, ignorant minds have gladly consumed this substance with glee in the name of smoking. A little we know about battery acid is that it is corrosive – having the ability to eat into materials and tissues. Each smoked stick of cigarette producer Tar, a substance used in paving roads hence we have tarred roads. Methanol – a main component in rocket fuel and Toluene – used to manufacture paint are also produced when a stick of cigarette is smoked. Ammonia is used to increase the absorption rate of nicotine. It’s also used to clean toilets, helps to treat wastewater (poop and pee) and is a key ingredient in liquid fertilizer. Lead and Nickel are metals and are all found in each stick of cigarette that is burned. Only a person with suicidal intent will drink or inhale insecticide. However, each stick of burned cigarette produces Nicotine which is used as insecticide to kill the likes of cockroaches, flies, mosquitoes yet people still smoke with reckless abandonment. Insects don’t like in the human lungs; do they? As earlier stated, these ingredients are approved as additives for foods, they were not tested by burning them, and it is the burning of many of these substances which changes their properties, often for the worse. Forty-three known carcinogens are in mainstream smoke, side stream smoke or both. It’s chilling to think about not only how smokers poison themselves, but what others are exposed to by breathing in the second hand smoke. Honestly, smoking does not endanger you alone; the people around you also stand a risk of being affected – your wife, kids, friends, family, mates; everyone stands a risk. So how does your body digest these toxic, corrosive and foul smelling things? It really doesn’t – which is the problem with cigarettes. The human anatomy is not designed to digest these chemicals; and if the human body cannot digest them, they will digest the human body. After all, that’s what cancer is. Right? Hyelni Dauda Ndahi, Department of Mass Communication, University of Maiduguri.