why do cigarettes have health warnings on them

[herbie]

i am doing an assesment in science when we are learning about cigarettes and nicotine, i am aiming for a level 6-7 can anyone give me a scientific answer?

[jazzi14]

There are so many chemicals in cigatettes that do more damage than the nicotine itself, one of them being arsenic!!! This can alone kill you in larger doses. Most of the chemicals are to make them more addictive. Perhaps you should ask the cigarette companies what all the chemicals are & their puposes... good luck!

[Peter Pedant]

I found basic science at your age really difficult as I could never work out what the question meant.

cigs have a health warning on themm because they are dangerous, and damage your health

Unfortunately they are also addictive (form the nicotine) and it is the tar products which damage.

The health warning came in because it was thought that people would limit consumption if thwere were warnings on the packet and to a certain extent, that is the case.

hope this helps

[wildwood]

The nicotine itself is not so harmful, but even more addictive than heroin. As above, it is the thousands of poisons that degenerate your whole system and the tar buildup in the lungs is directly life threatening.

Smoking is a mutiple additive activity - habit, calming and addiction, hence why it is so hard to stop.

The continuous harping by bleeding heart does nothing to stop people smoking, only make them smoke more. The warnings on packets are a waste of time as smokers are blind to them. A smoker is an addict and needs to genuinely want to quit for themselves and their family to stop successfully, they can't be made to.

I am speaking from experience.

[Ice.Maiden]

Cigarettes contain over 3000 toxins, and the warning was put on the packets to try and deter people from smoking. Also, it then couldn't be said that you haven't been warned if you develop a smoking-related illness! Nicotine's not only addictive, but IS very poisonous. It's found on the leaves of tabacco plants in large quantity, and can cause serious illness if a child was to digest too much of it, or to chew on nicotine patches or gum - both of which have this chemical in them. It's also included in some pesticides.

[karenmac60]

Warning are put on packets because the government assume we are all idiots who have to be told what to do or we will blame them for falling ill - 'but you never told me it was bad for me, I want some compensation'. Come to think of it, that happens all the time, maybe they have a point....