FDNY Insider- Bureau of Health Services
World Trade Center Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program
Why Quit Smoking?
Most people don’t realize what they ingest each time they light up. Did you know:
- You were exposed to WTC dust, fires and hazmat events. These exposures may place you at risk for heart, lung and cancer disease. Smokers are 50-100 times at greater risk than the non-exposed population. Your risk can be dramatically reduced if you quit smoking.
- There are four thousand different chemical compounds in tobacco blends?
- At last count, at least forty-three of those chemicals are considered cancer causing by the Surgeon General;
- Another two hundred of those chemicals are considered poisonous by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency;
- Ammonia is one ingredient recently added to tobacco blends by Philip Morris, R. J. Reynolds, and other major tobacco companies. Ammonia helps to speed up the effect of nicotine on the brain’s receptors.
- How long does it take the effect of nicotine to reach the brain? Only 5 – 7 seconds after the first puff on a cigarette!
- Another ingredient in tobacco blends is Polonium 210. Polonium 210 is a form of Radon gas. Because of Polonium 210’s presence, a one and a half pack a day smoker receives a daily dose of radiation equal to Four chest X-rays!
- Carbon monoxide, another of the four thousand chemicals, has a strong negative impact on cardiac health. Another important source of carbon monoxide is the tail pipe of your car when the engine is running. Imagine putting your lips around the tail pipe of your car! You get the idea.
- Did you know that arsenic, cadmium (battery acid), formaldehyde (used for embalming), benzene (lighter fluid), and hydrogen cyanide are some of the other ingredients in tobacco blends?
The BHS Tobacco Cessation Treatment Program, which just celebrated its third anniversary, has helped close to one thousand members, with a very high success rate. The Co-Director of the Tobacco Cessation Program is Matt Bars, a nationally renowned tobacco dependence expert. He and Mike Andreacchi, a well-known BHS staff and retired FDNY member, work together to provide you with personalized quit guidance, diet and exercise tips, and free nicotine replacement medication.
The Tobacco Cessation Program is currently funded by a September 11 Recovery Grant of the American Red Cross Liberty Disaster Relief Fund. Call Mike Andreacchi, at (718) 999-1942, to schedule your first appointment.