1. Home
  2. Health
  3. Smoking Cessation
photo of Terry Martin
Smoking Cessation Blog

By Terry Martin, About.com Guide to Smoking Cessation since 2003

Tar in Cigarettes

Tuesday June 20, 2006
In solid form, tar is the brown, tacky substance that is left behind on the end of the cigarette filter. It stains a smoker's teeth and fingers brown and coats everything it touches with a brownish-yellow film.

Tar in cigarette smoke paralyzes the cilia in the lungs and contributes to lung diseases such as:
  • Emphysema
  • Bronchitis
  • Lung Cancer

    For more in-depth information on specific lung diseases, visit Stacey Lloyd's site at About.com Lung Diseases

    Photo by Graham Savage
  • Comments
    June 10, 2008 at 12:30 pm
    (1) Ariel simon says:

    i have been smoking for 5 years and i was diagnosed with lung cancer….. and i regret those 5 years .. please all you smokers take my advice…. STOP SMOKING!

    December 9, 2008 at 7:58 am
    (2) Sam says:

    hello
    Im 14 and i think smoking is disgusting
    it harms you and it stinks
    thank you
    :)
    xxx

    February 12, 2009 at 4:47 am
    (3) carla goadby says:

    i thnk that smoking should go up to the age of 21 and drinking also. this is because then you are an adult and you no what it is you want out of life. i think that you should think about life to come. i am 15 years old and this is what i think. what do you think?

    February 27, 2009 at 12:14 pm
    (4) bobaloo says:

    im 17 and ive been smoking for the past 4 years now. and it doesnt matter what age limit you set for buying cigarettes. kids will always find a way to get them. I have not had any symptoms of any sort, i feel just fine, except i hate the smell it leaves on my clothes.

    March 6, 2009 at 9:01 am
    (5) paige trotter says:

    i think its RANK,
    nearly everybody in my year smoke and they come in to school stinking of it.
    i think that its not fair on other people coz we smoke it when they pass “/
    and that i think they sould stop or, dont have it all the time

    ;]

    March 21, 2009 at 11:04 pm
    (6) Tori says:

    I have tried smoking once and never tried again because of the awful smell and the digusting taste it leaves in your mouth. I went to a school where half of the year tens smoked and which they would waste there money and be totally addicted and couldn’t quit. Altogether never try smoking because my dads been smoking as a young teenagers where hes in his fifties now and finds it hard to quit!

    March 24, 2009 at 7:45 pm
    (7) janice says:

    I tried smoking cigarette at the age of 9 because of curiosity, and because I see adults do it. I started as a smoker at the age of 14, and I quit at the age of 17. I was a heavy smoker, I noticed the changes in my body, like hard in breathing, dizzines,I easily get tired when I go for a run, and I had a dark spot on the right side of my lip because that’s where I usually inhale the smoke. After I quit, after a year that I haven’t smoke, I realized that it really stink! haha. after weeks of not smoking, The dark spot was gone. I am now 19, I advice teenagers not to smoke. If you started smoking in your adolescent stage, you might have a possibility that you will smoke until you grow older. some kids think about quitting. why start?

    March 25, 2009 at 11:15 am
    (8) Brittany says:

    hey im 14
    and i smoke and its a bad habit to kick
    but they calm my nerves !!!!!
    they help me with everything!

    April 1, 2009 at 12:56 pm
    (9) kari says:

    ive been smoking 4 a while im 15 and i have trouble breathing already so all u smokers out there it will hurt and damage your lungs so STOP!!! now because i kno from experience it is dangerous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    April 4, 2009 at 4:26 am
    (10) Robt says:

    I met a woman on the internet 3 years ago who said she’d quit smoking after 20 years. Now, she’s smoking again due to several reasons: either she’s trying to get her weight down which is down now due to ulcers and they’re under control via Prevacid and or stressed out. She tells me to leave her alone and that she’ll quit eventually. I love her and tell her i can’t kiss her or be intimate with her due to her smoking. Everytime she’s upset, she ’s got to have a cigarette. I was told by someone not to harp to her about it, but if i had a crystal ball to fortell the future, i wouldn’t met this woman, but i did. It’s hard to find someone to fall in love with that would put up with each others human faults. Someone email me a letter so i can show her. Her name is Liz. Thanks, Robert.

    April 29, 2009 at 10:25 am
    (11) Deshondria Jones says:

    I think that smoking is very harmful
    this makes you stink and your breath stink. I don’t understand why people use the nasty things. I think when guys smoke it’s unattractive to me.Well if there’s any smokers that looks at this comment PLEASE STOP SMOKING everytime you smoke think of it as killing yourself slowly!!!!!

    May 11, 2009 at 6:30 pm
    (12) smoking stinks (literally!) says:

    I’m doing a report on smoking and im finding a lot of information. im also realizing how discusting smoking is. im never ever going to be a smoker!

    May 13, 2009 at 10:50 pm
    (13) Bridgette says:

    Okay hi :)
    Well ya shure enogh im 13.
    I got peer pressured in smoking.
    And i still smoke i started when i was 10 thats relly rellly young and i know that..
    My parents dont no and hopefully they wont find out.
    And I wish i could quit and i know i can but when i see it i want it.
    It is so dang addicting..
    I want to quit so bad im in dance softball and volley ball. and track.
    And i need to quit i am having hard time breathing lately.
    And i hate that feeling.
    And when i get up now i get light headed all the time.
    It never used to be like this and it sucks.
    Big time.
    And now i regret even starting.
    But it makes me feel cool to tell the truth.
    And relly its not not at all..
    But ya By..

    July 31, 2009 at 8:25 pm
    (14) Cigarette Dude... says:

    Well I think it depends on how you smoke also, because in my case I’ve just started the habit on smoking not to long ago (like about 2 months and I’m 15) and what I do is I inhale but I don’t pass it back to the lungs, you get me? I mean like I keep it in my mouth for like 1 or 2 secs. and I wouldn’t inhale again (once the smoke is in my mouth) to pass it in my mouth… that’s what I mean and also I’m THAT addicted to it. Sometimes I feel like smoking once every two weeks and if I don’t have any… I wouldn’t FREAK OUT! But I do know that it could cause gum disease >= /

    August 13, 2009 at 1:38 pm
    (15) sandeep says:

    Im 14 years old and my father died because of smoking when i was 10 my dad died when he was 45 that is why i hate cigarrettes, also my father was going to become a millionaire but he spent all his money on ciggarettes which made my mother suffering and working alone because she gets a little pay and she cannot get support. Heres a message to smokers dont smoke because even if u are a even millionaire or a billionaire and u smoke you will get addicted to ciggarettes so much then all money will go like sand coming out your hands. Also your family would suffer, if u cont quit for your self quit for your family or your selfish.

    September 3, 2009 at 9:14 am
    (16) Jacobey Patten says:

    stop smoking please i lost my aunt from that.

    September 10, 2009 at 5:23 pm
    (17) TABI ENOW says:

    I am helping youth in my country in Cameroon in Africa to quit cigarettes and other related addictive drugs i need to be hooked up with organisations that can assist this very dangerous issue out of my country.

    October 19, 2009 at 4:49 am
    (18) elina says:

    ew i hate smokers sometimes but i hate the smell most of my relatives smoke and it makes me dizzy and even some of my friends do and i try helping them and once it worked then i lost a lot of people from smoking
    please stop now
    ):

    October 21, 2009 at 5:51 pm
    (19) Frank says:

    Hey im 17 years of age and i started when i was 11. I thought it was cool and all and now i feel drained of energy. I hate the smell but i still do it anyway. I dont like cigarettes and when i was younger i used to hide my moms so she would hopefully quit, but it didn’t work. To this day my mom still does and she has hard times breathing and she coughs. But anyway cigarettes make me tired and not wanting to do anything. Before i smoked i used to do anything anyone can possibly imagine. But now it sucks smoking cuz i cant do anything about smoking. It is addictive.
    How i started was peer pressure. i was sttin on a swing and my friend was smoking and told me to take a drag and he kept asking me untill i finally did. And look where it got me.
    I have a job and get paid every two weeks and when i get my pay i spent most of it on smokes

    When i dont have one i am more energetic and i have a bad and short fuse.

    I will sit there and find ways to get smokes even if i have to take sme from the ashtray.

    I hate this habit and want it to stop but i just cant seem to end it.

    Well thats my story i see yall l8er

    October 29, 2009 at 3:09 pm
    (20) suckie says:

    i think smoking is bad and once u start it is very hard to quite i am only 14 years old and my life is surrounded by smoking family and friends

    November 2, 2009 at 4:24 pm
    (21) Ayeshmaaaaa x says:

    I’m 13 and I’ve been around smoking a lot. First of all, my dad smokes. So it’s bad enough having to see him slowly kill himself and smell the smoke. Then there are people at school who smoke. I don’t know who they are, but I know they do. Smoking is wrong. It should be illegal, but the government don’t care, they just want people to elect them. Anyway, it is so deadly, I don’t understand why people do it. I do understand it is addictive, but they have to get a grip. And also, some people don’t even want to quit! That’s just bad. But seriously, all smoking does is harm you. It doesn’t have any good outcomes. I want my dad to live to be able to see me get married and have kids. If he goes before that, it’s going to be heartbreaking. Me, my mum and my sister have told him to stop, but he never will. I don’t know what to do. Just everyone, stop smoking. It’s going to be a whole lot good for you. x

    Leave a Comment

    Line and paragraph breaks are automatic. Some HTML allowed: <a href="" title="">, <b>, <i>, <strike>

    Discuss
    Community Forum
    Explore Smoking Cessation
    About.com Special Features

    Learn how you can reduce your your numbers with these nutrition and exercise tips. More >

    Keep yourself, and your family, happy and healthy this fall with these tips. More >

    1. Home
    2. Health
    3. Smoking Cessation

    ©2009 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

    All rights reserved.