In a 700-page report released on Thursday, Surgeon General
Regina M. Benjamin filed the 30th chapter in The Dangerous Book
On Smoking. (Chapter One came out in 1964.) In it, there is no
pussy-footing around. “The chemicals in tobacco smoke reach your
lungs quickly every time you inhale causing damage immediately,”
Benjamin said in releasing the report. “Inhaling even the
smallest amount of tobacco smoke can also damage your DNA, which
can lead to cancer.” Tobacco smoke contains a deadly mixture of
more than 7,000 chemicals and compounds, of which hundreds are
toxic and at least 70 cause cancer. Every exposure to these
cancer-causing chemicals could damage DNA in a way that leads to
cancer. Exposure to smoke also decreases the benefits of
chemotherapy and other cancer treatments. Smoking causes more
than 85% of lung cancers and can cause cancer almost anywhere in
the body. One in three cancer deaths in the U.S. is tobacco-
related. Get the full report.