You may think that it is common public knowledge that there are thousands of potentially deadly chemicals present in cigarettes, with a large percentage of these being carcinogens or the type of chemical that can cause cancer. However, a new study reveals that a considerable percentage of the people who regularly use cigarettes do not even know what they are inhaling when they smoke.
The study was both conducted and posted by BMC Public Health. In the study, they also found out that there are around 4,800 different types of chemicals present in a cigarette with most of them being life threatening when inhaled. As reported by Headlines and Global News, Marcella Boynton, the study's lead author, decided to release the results of the study to the general public in order to "help smoker's kick the habit as well as to prevent others from starting it."
Boynton and her team propose that the consumers should be better informed about the chemical content of cigarettes. The study reveals that the majority of adults in the United States have heard of the FDA and their role in the regulation of tobacco products, with 94.6% of them knowing about this. However, when asked the same question, this percentage became lower in young adults, those with lower educational achievement, and those who are impoverished.
A majority percentage of both the smoking and non-smoking population believe that the FDA can pay a vital role in the regulation of tobacco products, says Boynton. Despite the fact, that almost everyone knows that there are health risks involved in smoking, it would not hurt to make people more conscious about how this bad habit negatively affects their health. If the proposal stemming from this study were to push through, we may see a decline in the number of smokers in the United States and even worldwide.
