Cigarette facts for kids
Cigarettes are dried leaves, usually tobacco, rolled in thin paper for people to smoke. The tobacco in cigarettes contains nicotine, which is a substance that can make people feel like they need to smoke more. This is called being addicted.
Cigarette smoke also has other things that are bad for your health. Many countries have rules about who can smoke cigarettes and where they can smoke them. Smoking can cause serious illnesses like lung cancer and heart disease. Most packs of cigarettes have warning labels on them to tell people about these dangers.
Years ago, before the mid-1950s, cigarette companies actually tried to make people believe that smoking was healthy. They even used pictures of doctors in their ads to trick the public into thinking cigarettes were safe. They claimed cigarettes could help with things like a sore throat or even asthma. Today, all major tobacco companies admit that cigarettes are harmful to health.
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Why are cigarettes harmful?
People who smoke often cough a lot, have chest pain, and find it hard to breathe. Doctors say that smoking can harm almost every organ in your body.
Cigarette smoke has many dangerous substances. Here are some of them:
- Nicotine is a drug that makes you want to smoke more and more. It can also affect your brain.
- Tar is a sticky substance that damages cells in your body. It is a main cause of lung cancer.
- Carcinogens are substances that cause cancer. There are many carcinogens in cigarette smoke.
- Carbon monoxide is a gas that you cannot see or smell. It is very poisonous. It stops your blood from carrying enough oxygen around your body.
Are "light" cigarettes safer?
Some cigarettes are called "filtered," "light," "ultra-light," "menthol," or "natural." There are also "nicotine-free" and electronic cigarettes. However, these are just as harmful as regular cigarettes. Other tobacco products, like cigars and chewing tobacco, are also not safe choices instead of cigarettes.
Fire risks from cigarettes
Cigarettes that are not put out properly are a common cause of house fires. Smoking near fuel or other chemicals that can easily catch fire can also cause a fire or even an explosion.
Images for kids
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A filtered cigarette
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An electronic cigarette
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A reproduction of a carving from the temple at Palenque, Mexico, depicting a Maya deity using a smoking tube
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Francisco Goya's La Cometa, depicting a (foreground left) man smoking an early quasicigarette
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A 1942 ad encourages women to smoke Camel brand cigarettes.
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Cigarette brands, including Craven "A", advertised in Shaftesbury Avenue, London in 1949.
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A discarded cigarette butt, lying on dirty snow
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Various types of electronic cigarettes.
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Tabak-Trafik in Vienna: Since January 1, 2007, all cigarette machines in Austria must attempt to verify a customer's age by requiring the insertion of a debit card or mobile phone verification.
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Simple molecular representation of cellulose acetate with one of the acetate groups on the cellulose backbone shown by the red circle
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Discarded Newport cigarettes packs found in Olneyville, Rhode Island - 2008
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Chemical hydrolysis of cellulose acetate
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A cigarette disposal canister, encouraging the public to dispose of their cigarettes properly
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A Woolworths supermarket cigarette counter in New South Wales, Australia: In January 2011, Australia prohibited the display of cigarettes in retail outlets countrywide.
See also
In Spanish: Cigarrillo para niños
