Tobacco products FAQs

Why is tobacco harmful?

When lit, raw dried tobacco releases over 200 poisonous chemicals.^1-9 It doesn’t matter what it tastes like or how it feels, all tobacco smoke contains over 200 toxic poisons.

Vapes also contain hazardous substances that harm the lungs and heart.

How do you know what tobacco companies do?

Information on how tobacco companies modify tobacco products is available through documents made public by the tobacco industry after legal orders in the United States required them to do so. There has also been independent research by scientists, summarised in authoritative government reports.^11-15

For more information on how tobacco is grown, processed and modified and what happens when it is burned:

Is there a way to process tobacco that makes it safer to use?

No. Although there are many types of tobacco products available with a range of different tobaccos and chemical additives, there are none that are known to be less harmful. All tobacco smoke contains dangerous levels of toxic and cancer-causing chemicals.

This is because some of the toxic chemicals in tobacco smoke come from the growing tobacco plant. Others form during the curing process, and others are added after this. Even more chemicals are formed once tobacco is burned.

If you would like advice or assistance to stop smoking or vaping, visit quit.org.au or call Quitline on 13 78 48.

What support can I get to stop smoking?

1. speak with a GP. A GP can discuss options and provide a script for subsidised stop smoking medication. See What to ask your GP.
2. talk to Quitline (13 7848). Quitline counsellors are qualified experts in helping people to stop smoking. Quitline counsellors help build and sustain a person’s motivation to quit and help them build a stop smoking plan that suits them. Read more about how Quitline can help.
3. use stop smoking medication, like the nicotine patch and gum or prescribed stop smoking tablets, to help manage symptoms of nicotine withdrawal.

What about organic tobacco?

Organic tobacco does not mean a safer cigarette. All tobacco smoke contains dangerous levels of toxic and cancer-causing chemicals. Carcinogens, carbon monoxide, tar, toxic metals and other particulate matter are present in the smoke from conventional cigarettes and in the smoke from ‘organic’, ‘natural’ and ‘additive-free’ cigarettes.^16,17

What about herbal cigarettes?

Herbal cigarettes are not safer than tobacco cigarettes. The smoke released from herbal cigarettes contains harmful substances that are also found in tobacco cigarettes. People who smoke herbal cigarettes expose themselves to dangerous levels of tar.¹⁸

What about heated tobacco products?

All forms of tobacco are harmful. The aerosol from heated cigarettes, also known as heat-not-burn, contains many of the same poisonous cancer-causing chemicals as cigarette smoke. Some heated tobacco products contain additional harmful chemicals that are unique to those products. These products also contain nicotine at levels like tailor-made cigarettes.¹⁹

What about shisha (waterpipe, nargile, hookah)?

People may mistake the sweet smell of shisha as being less harmful compared to cigarettes, however it has very similar health risks to smoking cigarettes and in some cases, it may be worse.²⁰

Many toxic chemicals have been found in shisha smoke. When people smoke shisha, they can end up inhaling a lot of smoke. This is because shisha is usually inhaled more deeply and is smoked for a more extended period.²⁰

Not only does smoking a shisha immediately increase heart rate, blood pressure and levels of carbon monoxide in your blood, there is the risk of many of the long-term health risks that are also caused by smoking cigarettes.²⁰

What about vapes?

While vapes don’t contain tobacco, they do contain hundreds of chemicals: some are known to be harmful to inhale and many haven’t been tested at all. People who vape also inhale tiny particles that lodge deep in the lungs. Most vapes contain nicotine, even if they don’t state it on the label. Nicotine is highly addictive.

Is raw tobacco dangerous for the people farming and processing it?

Yes, it can be. A common illness among tobacco farm workers is ‘green tobacco sickness’. This sickness occurs when workers have direct contact with newly cut green tobacco leaves, which results in nicotine being absorbed by the skin and entering the blood stream. Workers may also get inflammation in the lungs which is caused by particles released into the air during processing of the tobacco leaves.²¹

Is tobacco bad for the environment?

Yes, tobacco has a significant impact on the environment. From tobacco cultivation to curing, to manufacturing, distribution, consumption and litter, the global impact of smoking is extensive.²²

Tobacco growing is a cause of deforestation due to land clearing. In addition, tobacco farming has led to nutrient depletion from soil and the curing process has required large volumes of timber to be burnt.²² Most cigarette butts are made of plastic. They are a common form of litter and one of the most common types of plastic found in oceans.