Before You Take That Next Drag . . .

Consider this:
Smoke from cigarettes, cigars and pipes contains over 4,000 different chemicals. 43 of these chemicals as known carcinogens. Quite a few of these chemicals may be surprisingly familiar to you—but in a different form, like gasoline, household cleaners and nail polish remover. If you live with a smoker or are a smoker yourself and want to minimize the risk to non-smoking family members, the first step is to remove these chemicals from the air.

Your furniture, draperies, carpets and walls are also affected by the chemicals found in cigarette smoke. You may have noticed that your walls are yellow, or that there is an extra build-up or dust and ash particles on furniture.

Worst of all, the scent created by smoke seeps into porous surfaces, and is re-emitted for quite a while. To give you a better idea of what hazardous chemicals are produced by a burning cigarette, here are some of the notably toxic ingredients in smoke—as well as some of the other substances that use these same chemicals:

• Benzene a.k.a. Gasoline Additive – a highly potent cancer-causing chemical. Used as a solvent in fuels, it is a carcinogen as well as a chemical directly linked to leukaemia.
• Formaldehyde a.k.a. Embalming Fluid – this is the extremely poisonous chemical used to preserve dead bodies. It is known to cause cancer, respiratory, skin and gastrointestinal problems.
• Ammonia a.k.a. Toilet Bowl Cleaner – this chemical is found in many cleaning products and is used in cigarettes as a sort of “flavor enhancer” that helps deliver more nicotine to the bloodstream.
• Acetone a.k.a Nail Polish Remover – a very toxic and volatile chemical present in cigarette smoke
• Tar a.k.a. Ashy Particulate – a powdery particulate that is found in every puff of a cigarette. 70% of the tar inhaled into lungs stays there (for good).
• Nicotine a.k.a. Insecticide/Addictive Substance – nicotine is claimed to be the most addictive substance to man and is considered a medical and non-medical poison.
• Carbon Monoxide a.k.a. Car Exhaust – an odorless, tasteless poisonous gas that is often used for suicides (running a car in a closed garage) because of its rapid, fatal effects.
• Arsenic a.k.a. Rat Poison – cancer causing element found in poisons and insecticides (the farmers who used arsenic as an insecticide spray for fruit trees suffered from brain damage)
• Hydrogen Cyanide a.k.a. Gas Chamber Poison – this gas is so effective at killing humans that it was used in executions and mass murders, like those from the Holocaust. It is no longer used for executions, because it is spectulated to be a very painful way to die.

The easiest way to keep the people you care about safe from these chemicals is to place a smoke filter, like those sold by HomeSmokeEater.com in the room with you to neutralize smoke as soon as it is produced.

By employing an air filter along with an air purifier, like a Biozone Air Purifier or an Air Oasis air purifier, you will remove particulate and reduce odors dramatically. This same two-step technology is perfect for commercial smoke removal applications like bars and nightclubs, where air that is too smoky drives away customers.

What's the best way to avoid the health risks? Find a quitting method that will work for you. The most important thing that you can do is make the decision to quit. Set a quitting date in the near future. Need some support? Call the American Cancer Society's Quitline: 1-800-ACS-2345