Increasingly teens and minority youth are picking up the smoking habit through menthol cigarettes. The FDA believes that the menthol flavor masks the tobacco and therefore makes it easier for teens to start the smoking and habit and harder to quit. The tobacco companies dispute this claim sating that menthol cigarettes don’t have any effect on the ease of developing a smoking habit or make it more difficult to quit. Smoking menthol cigarettes do pose a greater threat than regular cigarettes by inhibiting the metabolism of nicotine cause people to smoke more of them.
Smoking any type of cigarettes, regular and menthol, can lead to the development of lung cancer which kills millions worldwide. Anyone who smokes dramatically increases their cancer of contracting lung cancer. Many environmental factors cause the many types of lung cancer that people are afflicted by including environmental toxins like pollution and asbestos.
Asbestos is a naturally occurring material commonly used as a fire retardant and is present in the ceiling tiles and insulation of older buildings. Asbestos is known to be the direct cause of mesothelioma which attacks the lining of crucial organs including the lungs and heart. Because of the direct link between asbestos and mesothelioma, the toxin was prohibited in new construction beginning in the 80’s. Asbestos is still present in many structure and over 3,000 people a year are projected to develop mesothelioma. Though cigarettes aren’t the direct cause of mesothelioma it can greatly increase the chances of contracting the fatal cancer.
