Tar is the term used to describe tobacco smoke particles. The sticky consistency of tar facilitates its permeation into a variety of surfaces and makes removal difficult. The yellowish, brown substance stains smokers' skin, teeth, fingernails and lungs. Tar also emits the smell that persists in a smoker's hair, skin, clothes and breath. Tar contains toxic chemicals that outlast the smoke from an ignited cigarette.
Tar in the Lungs
Tar sticks to lung tissues. Although a smoker may release some of the tar through breathing and coughing, the sticky consistency of tar makes it difficult to expel, and so tar continues to damage the lungs even after extinguishing a last cigarette. Smoking is linked to chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and about 90 percent of all lung cancer cases.
Tar in the Mouth
Tar sticks to teeth, tongue and lips. Long term, tar causes oral cancer, periodontitis and delayed oral wound healing. The non-life-threatening oral conditions resulting from tar also profoundly impact your life. Think of a succulent chocolate truffle, and now imagine not being able to taste it because tar has damaged your taste buds. Think of a budding red rose, and now imagine never enjoying its scent because tar has damaged your sense of smell. Smile in the mirror and imagine that your pearly-whites are now tar-brown. Think about kissing the man or woman of your dreams, and now imagine that your beloved does not want to kiss you because your breath stinks from tar-induced halitosis.
Secondhand Smoke
If you consider how visible tar is on walls and furniture, you can deduce what the facts support, that secondhand smoke affects nonsmokers. Whether an individual inhales a cigarette directly into the lungs or inhales the smoke from a cigarette burning nearby, that individual is inhaling the same toxic tar. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that exposure to secondhand smoke accounts for about 46,000 heart disease deaths and about 3,400 lung cancer deaths of adult nonsmokers annually.
Thirdhand Smoke
Thirdhand smoke results from the absorption of tar and nicotine into walls, floors, carpets, fabrics and clothes. Toxic substances can remain for months after smoking cigarettes in an enclosed space, even if nobody smokes in that space for an extended period. Tar also absorbs into skin and hair, posing a risk to individuals who come into contact with a person who has recently smoked a cigarette. To avoid continued exposure to toxins, once you decide to quit smoking, clean your home, car, office and clothes to remove the residual tar.
Low-Tar Cigarettes
Companies claim that low-tar, or light, cigarettes contain less tar than regular cigarettes. Smoking machines test and determine the tar content of each brand of cigarette. These machines mimic a person's puffing on a cigarette. The machine does not take into account, however, that people puff differently. Some people inhale more deeply or more rapidly, especially if smoking a low-tar cigarette. Low-tar cigarettes contain ventilation holes that release some of the tar content before it reaches the smoking machine. Since an individual's fingers typically cover the ventilation holes, the smoker inhales the tar, and so tar-inhalation from low-tar cigarettes is actually much greater than the machine registers.
References
- Better Health Channel: Smoking - effects on your body
- American Dental Association: Smoking Cessation
- National Cancer Institute: U.S. National Institutes of Health: The Truth About "Light" Cigarettes: Questions and Answers
- Center for Disease Control and Prevention: Smoking and Tobacco Use: Second Hand Smoke
- MayoClinic.com: Thirdhand smoke another danger
