Nick Greene is Editor-at-Large for MentalFloss.com. He has written about trying to ride the entire New York Subway system in one day, surviving the apocalypse without a spare set of contact lenses, and whether or not Elvis was actually any good at karate. Originally from Chicago, he currently lives in Brooklyn. View the discussion thread.
Ammonia (in Cigs). Ammonia is one of the many chemicals present in cigarettes. Ammonia is a chemical compound formed from the elements nitrogen and hydrogen. It has chemical formula: NH 3. At room temperature and pressure ammonia is a gas. It is toxic (poisonous), and corrosive to some materials, and has a strong and distinctive smell.
Dec. 14, 2007 -- New research from Canada shows that some toxins may be more abundant in marijuana cigarettes than tobacco cigarettes. The researchers burned 30 marijuana cigarettes and 30 tobacco cigarettes on a machine in their lab, measuring levels of chemicals in the smoke. Ammonia levels were up to 20 times higher in marijuana smoke than in tobacco smoke. Levels of hydrogen cyanide and nitrogen-related chemicals were three to five times higher in marijuana smoke than in tobacco smoke. The nitrogen-based fertilizer used on the marijuana plants -- which all came from the same batch of Canadian pot plants -- may have affected the results. The temperatures used to burn the cigarettes may also have been a factor. Marijuana smoke and tobacco smoke shared many of the same chemicals.