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Last updated October 2025
Read time 5 minutes
Tobacco smoke contains over 7,000 different chemicals. More than 100 of these chemicals are poisonous, and are released when the tobacco is burned. At least 69 are known to cause cancer. It doesn’t matter what tobacco product you use, or what the smoke tastes or feels like – all tobacco smoke is toxic to your body.
All forms of tobacco are harmful, whether it's rollie tobacco, tailor-mades, menthols or other forms. This is because some of the toxic chemicals in tobacco smoke come from the tobacco plant. Others form during the curing process, and others are added after this. Even more chemicals are formed once the cigarette is burned.1
Some of the dangerous toxic chemicals found in tobacco smoke include:
Acrolein irritates your respiratory tract, weakens your immune system and causes serious heart damage and disease.2
Formaldehyde is a chemical used to preserve dead bodies. It’s toxic to the airways and causes cancer.3
Carbon monoxide causes heart damage.3
Vinyl chloride is highly toxic, causing cancer and liver damage.3
1,3-Butadiene is a toxic chemical that damages the reproductive system and causes cancer.4, 5
TSNAs (tobacco specific nitrosamines) cause cancer. Even small amounts are dangerous.6
Some of the toxic chemicals in tobacco smoke are made in the tobacco plant as it grows. This includes nicotine, the addictive substance in tobacco. Others, such as lead and cadmium, enter the roots of the tobacco plant from the soil. Nitrates from fertilisers also build up over time in the plant. They are converted into many toxic compounds which are found in tobacco smoke.3
After the leaves from the tobacco plant are picked, they are aged and dried out (called ‘curing’) so they can burn. During this curing and aging process, many of the natural chemicals from the plant break down. New chemicals are made as the old ones are altered. An example is TSNAs – tobacco specific nitrosamines, which can cause cancer.3
Tobacco smoke also contains chemicals that are added by tobacco companies during the manufacturing process. These chemicals include additives that make the tobacco moist.7 Tobacco that is legally sold in Australia is regulated, so many additives are banned. But illegally imported tobacco is not regulated, so likely contains more additives.
It is when the tobacco is burned that many of the harmful chemicals in the smoke get made.3, 8, 9
An example is burned sugars. Sugars are a part of the tobacco plant. Once sugars are burned they create carcinogens, which are chemicals that can cause cancer.10
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.
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. Most vapes contain nicotine, which is highly addictive. People who vape are more likely to go on to smoke than people who don’t vape.
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Illegally-imported tobacco may contain chemical additives
