IS1: Trainer notes - Ingredients game
The following ingredients are found in cigarettes and cigarette smoke:
Acetone
Nail varnish remover
Acetic Acid
Vinegar
Almond Oil
Used in baked goods, confectionary, gelatine, puddings and
chewing gum.
Ammonia
Found in cleaning products and urine. Tobacco companies say they
add ammonia to give ‘flavour’ to the cigarette, but ammonia also
helps nicotine reach the brain more quickly. This makes cigarettes
even more addictive.
Arsenic
Used as ant and rat poison in the USA. Picked up by the tobacco
plant from the soil.
Benzene
Found in petrol fumes. Highly flammable and poisonous.
Cadmium
Toxic metal used in batteries. Picked up by the tobacco plant from
the soil. Stays in the body for 22 years. If levels build up, cadmium
can cause brain, liver and kidney damage.
Carbon Monoxide (CO)
Found in exhaust fumes, dodgy gas fires, and in cigarette smoke. A
poisonous gas with no taste or smell. Can be fatal. CO reduces the
amount of oxygen in the blood, leading to circulation problems,
strokes and heart attacks. The good news: CO leaves the body very
quickly when a person stops smoking.
Carbon Tetrachloride
Used until recently in dry cleaning fluid.
Carrot Seed Oil
Found in carrots, used in baked goods.
Cocoa
Used in chocolate, drinks, baked goods, and desserts. It is an
additive to enhance flavour and also is included to dilate the airways
allowing the smoke an easier and deeper passage into the lungs
exposing the body to more nicotine and higher levels of tar.
DDT
Insecticide. Banned as an insecticide in the UK because of health
risks, but still used in many countries.
Formaldehyde
Embalming fluid, used for preserving dead bodies. May cause
breathing, skin and stomach problems.
Honey
A sweet thick sugary fluid made by honey bees. Makes cigarettes
more palatable.
Hydrocarbons
Found in Jeyes Fluid and car-care products.
Hydrogen Cyanide
Used to execute prisoners on Death Row in the USA.
SSW Brief Intervention Training: Ingredients cards - Trainer notes
April 2009
Hydrogen Sulphide
Stink bomb gas.
Lead
Found in batteries. No longer added to petrol because of serious
health risks – but still found in cigarette smoke.
Lemon Oil
Used in candy, breakfast cereal and frozen diary products – and as
an additive in cigarettes.
Liquorice
Plant extract used in confectionary. Added to cigarettes as a
flavouring and demulcent – soothes mucous membrane and
relieves pain and irritation to these membranes in the throat caused
by harsh cigarette smoke.
Methanol
Used in rocket fuel and as a solvent.
Methyl isocyanate
Responsible for killing and injuring thousands in the Bhopal disaster
in India.
Nicotine
Insecticide. Powerful, addictive drug found in the tobacco leaf.
Increases heart rate and blood pressure.
Nitric Acid
Corrosive chemical, widely used in industry.
Olive Oil
Used in salad dressings, for cooking, as an ingredient in soaps, and
as an emollient (a moisturiser).
Polonium 210
Naturally occurring radioactive fallout.
Radon
Naturally occurring radioactive gas.
Saltpetre
(Potassium Nitrate)
Found in gunpowder. Keeps the cigarette paper alight even if the
smoker is not sucking on the cigarette.
Sugar
Included in many foods drinks and medicines to sweeten their taste.
This is the largest single additive in cigarettes, it is used to mask the
unpalatable taste of nicotine/tobacco.
Sulphuric Acid
Used in fertilisers and explosives. Found in Acid Rain.
Tar
Sticky black substance used for coating roads. Also found in
cigarette smoke, coating the surface of the lungs, causing breathing
problems and cancer.
Toluene
Solvent. Used to make dyes and explosives.
Water (H20)
Mixed with flavourings, fillers and additives.
Additives are used to make tobacco products more acceptable to the consumer. They
include humectants (moisturisers) to prolong shelf life, sugars to make the smoke seem
milder and easier to inhale, and flavourings such as cocoa and vanilla. For most products,
the use of additives for 'improvement' does not lead to any harmful consequences arising
from modest extra consumption. However, if the cigarette smoke is made to taste 'better'
more people may start to smoke, continue to smoke, smoke more cigarettes or decide not to
quit.
SSW Brief Intervention Training: Ingredients cards - Trainer notes
April 2009
Acetic Acid
Vinegar
Cadmium
Battery acid
Acetone
Nail varnish
remover
Hydrogen
Cyanide
Lethal injection
given to prisoners
on Death Row in
USA
Carbon Monoxide
Nicotine
Found in car exhaust
fumes
Insecticide, also an
extremely addictive
drug
Arsenic
Used as
rat poison
in USA
DDT
Insecticide,
banned in the
UK due to
health risks
Methanol
Used in rocket
fuel
Methyl
Isocyanate
Poison released
during Bhopal
disaster in India,
killing and injuring
thousands
Nitric Acid
Corrosive liquid
used in industry
(causes burns)
To use these images as
an activity, cut and
paste on to cards. Ask
participants to place
cards into two piles –
ingredients found in
cigarettes, and
ingredients not in
cigarettes.
(Answer: they all are)
Radon
Polonium
210
Naturally
occurring
radioactive gas
Sulphuric Acid
Chemical found in
Acid Rain
Saltpetre
Found in
radioactive
fallout
Tar
Used to make road
surfaces
Ammonia
(Potassium
Nitrate)
Used to make
explosives
Found in urine and
cleaning products
Cocoa
Used in chocolate,
drinks, baked goods,
and desserts
Sugar
Included in many
foods, drinks and
medicines to sweeten
their taste
Liquorice
Plant extract
used in
confectionary
Olive Oil
Water
Used in salad
dressings, for cooking,
as an ingredient in
soaps, and as an
emollient
Honey
A sweet thick
sugary fluid made
by honey bees
Almond Oil
Used in baked goods,
confectionary,
gelatine, puddings
and chewing gum
Lemon Oil
Used in candy,
breakfast cereal
and frozen diary
products
Carrot Seed Oil
Found in
carrots, used
in baked goods