Smoking kills over one million people in India annually and is the fourth leading cause of non-communicable diseases (NCD), such as cancer and heart diseases, which account for 53 percent of all deaths in India.
• Tobacco smoke is made up of thousands of chemicals, including at least 70 known to cause cancer. These cancer-causing chemicals are referred to as carcinogens. Some of the chemicals found in tobacco smoke include Hydrogen cyanide, formaldehyde, lead, arsenic, benzene, ammonia and radioactive elements.
• Many of these cause cancer and some can cause heart disease, lung disease, or other serious health problems, too. Most of the substances come from the burning tobacco leaves themselves, not from additives included in cigarettes (or other tobacco products).
• Nicotine, the addictive drug that is the key stimulant people are looking for is one of the harsh chemicals in tobacco smoke.