Cigarette smoke is complex mix of more than 7,000 chemicals. At least 70 are carcinogenic, which means they’re known to cause cancer. If you smoke, you inhale these with every puff you take.

One of smoke’s most harmful components is nicotine, which poses several serious health risks:

It interferes with healthy brain development in young people.
It can harm the fetus of a pregnant person.
It can raise blood pressure and pulse, increasing the work of the heart.
It’s highly addictive.

And nicotine is just one of many potentially dangerous substances. Here are some additional chemicals found in cigarette smoke, and other places they may appear:

Arsenic, also found in rat poison
Ammonia, a poison found in many household cleaners
Acetone, also found in nail polish remover
Benzene, also used to make glue, tires, and rubber
Carbon monoxide, a toxic gas
Cadmium, also used in rechargeable batteries
Cyanide, also a poison used as a weapon in wars
DDT, also used to kill bugs
Formaldehyde, also found in fluid that preserves dead bodies
Lead, a poison that's been removed from nearly all paints
Mercury, a poisonous substance that can be breathed in
Nickel, which can cause cancer
Hydrogen cyanide, a deadly poison used
Hydrogen sulfide, which is also sewer gas
Polonium-210, a radioactive substance

These are just part of the reason why quitting smoking is a healthy choice. The sooner you decide to quit, the healthier you can be.