Cigarette Smoke Toxicity. Linking Individual Chemicals to Human Diseases

Smoking causes and contributes to a large number of human diseases, yet due to the large number of potentially hazardous compounds in cigarette smoke – almost 5,000 chemicals have been identified, establishing the link between smoking and disease has often proved difficult. This unbiased and scientifically accurate overview of current knowledge begins with an overview of the chemical constituents in cigarette smoke, their fate in the human body, and their documented toxic effects on various cells and tissues. Recent results detailing the many ways components of cigarette smoke adversely affect human health are also presented, highlighting the role of smoking in cardiovasc…