Giving Up Smoking - And the Radioactive Elements in Cigarettes!

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Author: . Jones" href="http://www.articlesbase.com/authors/patricia-a.-jones/28621.htm">Patricia A. Jones

It's no secret nowadays that smoking is bad for you, but did you know that are are radioactive elements in cigarettes? I didn't until I decided that I was giving up smoking and paid more attention to the harm that I was doing to my body and my health.

Cigarette smoke contains constituents such as radioactive elements, Polomium-210 and Lead-210 which are highly poisonous, heavy metals that can cause lung cancer. Frightening isn't it that we are deliberately introducing these dangerous elements to our bodies and paying for the privilige too?

Radioactive lead isotopes and polonium isotopes get into tobacco because of the radioactivity of soil-based radium. The regions where tobacco is grown are very rich in radium soils, this can also be contributed to by adding fertiliser to the soil. This elemental particle in soil that surrounds tobacco plants releases gas which enables the tiny polonium and lead particles to float free, consequently attaching to bits of dirt and then are carried to the outer covering of tobacco leaves. Since tobacco leaves are covered with many fine hair-like extensions, lead and polonium particles stick and stay in the leaves until it gets to the human body.

Usually, tobaccos are washed as part of cleaning during the manufacturing process of cigarettes. But as these elements are so tiny they and not soluble in water, they are quite easily able to escape from this water-based cleaning process.

The problem happens when a smoker breathes in a cigarette's smoke. Radioactive elements are attached to the tar, another toxic chemical produced by cigarette smoke, which is collected at the junction of airways within the lungs called bronchioles. Studies have reported that polonium-210 and lead-210 build up at these areas in the lungs of smokers and that over time, they produce cancer-causing radioactive areas within the body.

Health risks associated with inhalation of polonium-210 and lead-210 are manifested in the development of lung cancer, which has symptoms of coughing that could worsen over time, constant chest pain, shortness of breath, continual problems with bronchitis, pneumonia, fatigue, swelling of the face and neck, loss of appetite, unintentional weight loss, and the worst symptom - coughing up blood.

Lung cancer is one of the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the developed world and smoking tobacco is the main culprit. Early detection of lung cancer is very difficult because symptoms do not often occur until the disease is at an advanced stage. Even then, the 2-year survival rate is only 2 percent. Most people diagnosed in the advanced stage have only 6-months to a year to live.

It really was an eye opener to realise that I have voluntarily paid for and taken in these cancer giving radioactive elements for many years. Giving up smoking last year was the best decision that I have ever made - I just wish that I had made that decision sooner. For all that I know it may be too late, the harmful elements may already have built up too much for me to reverse the damage, but I am hopeful that I quit smoking in time to save my life.About the Author:

To learn more about how I succeeded in giving up smoking visit smokersstop.co.uk If you want to stop smoking and need some support check out our stop smoking forum

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