Does Chewing Tobacco Cause Cancer?
Plenty of people think that chewing tobacco is much safer than cigarettes, and that they can still get their nicotine this way without risking cancer. This is untrue, and there are numerous ways in which chewed tobacco elevates risk for cancer in various parts of the body. It’s true that unlike cigarettes, chewing tobacco is unlikely to cause lung cancer, since it isn’t inhaled, but the other forms of cancer it can cause may be just as deadly.
Plenty of people think that chewing tobacco is much safer than cigarettes, and that they can still get their nicotine this way without risking cancer. This is untrue, and there are numerous ways in which chewed tobacco elevates risk for cancer in various parts of the body. It’s true that unlike cigarettes, chewing tobacco is unlikely to cause lung cancer, since it isn’t inhaled, but the other forms of cancer it can cause may be just as deadly. Tobacco contains a variety of chemicals that are known to cause cancer: a full 28 substances that are carcinogenic. Some of these carcinogens are called tobacco-specific nitrosamines, and others include some products most people wouldn’t willingly digest in other forms, like arsenic and formaldehyde. These are poison to the body, and over time they will have adverse effects on the body, including the potential to create cancer.
