Smokeless tobacco
Tobacco product used by means other than smoking / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Smokeless tobacco is a tobacco product that is used by means other than smoking.[1] Their use involves chewing, sniffing, or placing the product between gum and the cheek or lip.[1] Smokeless tobacco products are produced in various forms, such as chewing tobacco, snuff, snus, and dissolvable tobacco products.[2] Smokeless tobacco is widely used in South Asia and this accounts for about 80% of global consumption.[3] All smokeless tobacco products contain nicotine[4] and are therefore highly addictive.[5] Quitting smokeless tobacco use is as challenging as smoking cessation.[6]
This article is missing information about the history and public perception of smokeless tobacco products. (October 2023) |
Using smokeless tobacco can cause a various harmful effects such as dental disease, oral cancer, oesophagus cancer, and pancreas cancer, as well as negative reproductive effects including stillbirth, premature birth and low birth weight.[5] Smokeless tobacco poses a lower health risk than traditional combusted products.[7] However it is not a healthy alternative to cigarette smoking.[6] The level of risk varies between different types of products (e.g., low nitrosamine Swedish-type snus versus other smokeless tobacco with high nitrosamine levels) and producing regions.[8][7] There is no safe level of smokeless tobacco use.[6]
Smokeless tobacco products typically contain over 3000 constituents,[9] which includes multiple cancer-causing chemicals.[6] Approximately 28 chemical constituents present in smokeless tobacco can cause cancer, among which nitrosamine is the most prominent.[10] Smokeless tobacco accounts for an abundance of deaths globally with a significant proportion of them in Southeast Asia.[11]
Smokeless tobacco consumption is widespread throughout the world.[10] Once addicted to nicotine from smokeless tobacco use, many people, particularly young people, expand their tobacco use by smoking cigarettes.[6] Males are more likely than females to use smokeless tobacco.[6]