Smoking leisure: Do you know what you inhale?
With all the thing that we can smoke today we have much more opportunities to get cancerous substances, keep reading to know what’s inside these diabolical sticks.
Cigarette
Smoke of cigarettes produces 4000 different substances, between these we have: irritants, tar, CO2, nicotine. Among the irritants there are: cyanidric acid, acrolein, formaldehyde and ammonia. They damage the mochas of respiratory tract. Nicotine is present in tobacco in percentage from 2% to 8%. Nicotine it’s not very toxic but really addictive! Nicotine is considered a drug in all effects! Since the beginning of the 1990s the nicotine inside cigarettes has been regulated and can’t exceed a certain number of mg.
Cigar
The main difference between cigar and cigarettes is the type of tobacco used. Cigarettes, in general, contain a mixture of different types of unfermented tobacco, while cigars are always composed of a single type of fermented tobacco. With fermentation a series of chemical reactions takes place, carried by enzymes inside the plant.
These specific of cigars make them potentially more dangerous than cigarettes. Indeed the cigar have:
- An higher level of carcinogens created during the fermentation period.
- Higher level of tar.
- Higher level of toxins cause of the coating of cigar, typically a tobacco leave, less porous than a cigarette.
- The larger size exposes to more toxic substances.
E Cigarette
Gain more popularity over the last years, this cigarette allows to avoid tar and numerous toxic gases contained in classic smoke. On the other hand many studies have indicated the presence of substances that can be potentially harmful. An example in particular? Propylene glycol. Has been used for long time in smoke bombs for film industry or during concerts and is, generally, considered safe, although some studies says that prolonged inhalation may lead to irritation, coughing and inflammation. No-smokers should avoid it, because of the possible addiction to nicotine, that can cause diabetes an hypertension.
Iqos
This cigarette is the results of years of studies by the colossal Philip Morris. This product heat the tobacco instead of burning it. Differently from an e-cig this one releases black carbon, in percentage between 10-15% compared to regular cigarettes. This substance involved presence in PM2.5 of hydrocarbons. It’s also detected aldehyde, including formaldehyde. There are still studies on this cigarette because of its short life.
Marjuana
Cannabis contains hundreds of chemicals, 60 of those belong cannabinoid class (the psychoactive component). The concentration of psychoactive varies from 1% to 10% and sometime can reach up to 60% in resin and oils; Delta9 – Tetrahydrocannabinol is the most abundant.
How it works: Many effects of cannabinoids are due to its action in central nervous system:
THC causes an increase in dopamine release, it’s a stimulant and produces “effects”: anti nausea, stimulation of appetite and euphoria. The lowest level in a plant is about 0.1% and the higher over 25%.
CBD instead is a muscle relaxer, sedative, anxiolytic, anti-inflammatory. It is present inversely to THC and it’s not psychoactive, producing effects without makes you feel stoned.
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