Smokeless Tobacco

What is smokeless tobacco?Unburned tobacco which is placed into the mouth

Chewing tobaccoDipSnuffPlugChaw

Types of smokeless tobacco:

Snuff- fine-grain tobacco that often comes in teabag-like pouches that users "pinch" or "dip" between their lower lip and gum.

Chewing tobacco- shredded, twisted, or "bricked" tobacco leaves that users put between their cheek and gum

What is in smokeless tobacco?

Polonium 210 (nuclear waste)Formaldehyde (embalming fluid)Cadmium (used in car batteries)Lead (nerve poison)Nitrosamines (cancer causing substances)Arsenic (rat poisoning) Cyanide (poison)

28 different chemicals—carcinogens

More nicotine in chewing tobacco than in cigarettes

Health Risks of Smokeless Tobacco SHORT TERM Increase heartbeat Constricts blood vessels Increase blood pressure

LONG TERM Staining teeth Recession and bleeding of gums Mouth sores (70%) Development of think white patches in mouth-

LEUKOPLAKIA—WHICH CAN DEVELOP INTO CANCER

Hairy Tongue Oral cancer, throat cancer

Leukoplakia

precancerous sore (lesion) that develops on the tongue or the inside of the cheek in response to chronic irritation.

Only 50% of mouth cancer patients survive 5 years after their first diagnosis

Hairy TongueType of leukoplakia caused by bacteria and fungus

Effects of cancer from smokeless tobacco

Bill Tuttle