Smoking: contents of tobacco
What’s ina cigarette.
Tobacco smoke contains more than 5,000 chemicals. At least 70 of them cause cancer.
- 5,000+chemicals in cigarette smoke.
- 70+of them are known to cause cancer.
- 48 hoursafter your last cigarette, carbon monoxide in your blood is back to a non-smoker’s level.
The three you’ve heard of
Most people know cigarettes are bad for them. Fewer know what they’re breathing in.
Nicotine
The addictive part of tobacco. It reaches the brain quickly and raises your heart rate and blood pressure. Nicotine itself doesn’t cause cancer, but it keeps people smoking.
Tar
A sticky brown substance that collects in the lungs. It contains cancer-causing chemicals and raises the risk of lung diseases such as emphysema and COPD.
Carbon monoxide
A poisonous gas that reduces the amount of oxygen your blood can carry. It raises the risk of heart disease and stroke.
And the ones you haven’t
Burning tobacco produces chemicals you would never choose to breathe in.
These are some of those found in tobacco smoke, and where else you’d find them.
- ArsenicA poison.
- BenzeneAn industrial solvent, made from crude oil.
- CadmiumUsed in batteries.
- FormaldehydeUsed in science labs and mortuaries.
- Polonium-210A highly radioactive element.
- ChromiumUsed to make dye, paint and car alloys.
- BerylliumUsed in nuclear reactors.
- 1,3-butadieneUsed in rubber manufacturing.
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbonsA group of dangerous chemicals found in oil and coal, including benzo(a)pyrene.
What about vapes?
E-cigarettes don’t burn tobacco, so they don’t produce tar or carbon monoxide. Most still contain nicotine, which is why vaping can become a habit of its own.
If you’d like to stop vaping, the programme is the same as for smoking.
Smoking facts
More to read
Stop smoking hypnotherapy
A simpler wayto stop.
One session, tailored to you, by Zoom from your own home, with the personalised recording to keep.
We start with a conversation about your smoking or vaping, then the hypnotherapy, based on what you’ve told me. The aim is for you to feel like a non-smoker, not an ex-smoker who still misses cigarettes.
Sources
- Cancer Research UK: What’s in a cigarette?, reviewed June 2026
- NHS Better Health: Quit smoking
Start with a conversation.
Tell me about your smoking or vaping and what you’d like to change. I reply within 24 hours.