How Does Tar Affect the Circulatory System?

Tar is a harmful poison in cigarettes, marijuana, asphalt, coal and coke works. Tar enters the lungs through respiration and the heart through the circulatory system. Tar turns the lung black, destroying lung tissue, the most delicate tissue in the human body. A lung damaged by inhaled tar releases less oxygen into the blood, which strains the ventricles of the heart. Chronic pulmonary hypertension and obstructed lung tissue are finally fatal.

Facts

• The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report that tar from cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States. The Surgeon General through the CDC reports 5.5 million deaths from cardiovascular, heart and blood vessel disease, due to cigarette smoking from 1995 to 1999. In order, the leading causes of death in the United States are heart disease, cancer, cerebrovascular disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. COPD, the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, is directly related to cigarette smoking, which is highest among white blue-collar workers.

Lymphatic System

• Wild Iris Medical Education explains that the lymphatic system is part of the circulatory system. Tar toxins in the lung and circulatory system invoke an immune response which causes the production of lymphocytes and swelling of tissue. The lymphatic system causes swelling and transports antibodies to lymph nodes to fight the tar carcinogens. If the lymphocytes are not successful in destroying the carcinogen, the lymph nodes may become sites of secondary tumors. A compromised lymphatic system impairs the body's ability to fight infections.

Cigarette Smoke

• Smoke from the end of a burning cigarette is more dangerous than that inhaled by the smoker because smaller particles of tar from the end of the burning cigarette go more deeply into the lung, according to NIH tar and toxicity studies. Tar damages the heart and the cardiovascular system. Poor gas exchange causes the arteries in the lungs to constrict (pulmonary hypertension), and low blood oxygen reduces the ability of the right ventricle of the heart to contract. The inflammatory reaction to lung damage initiates the production of excess white blood cells making blood clots more likely to form increasing the risk of stroke and heart attack. Smoking stiffens the right ventricle which can cause it to calcify and lead to heart failure. Wild Iris education explains that inhaled tar reaches the brain through the circulatory system ten seconds after it is inhaled. Tar from tobacco smoke transported by the circulatory system binds to other organs in your body.

Coal Tar

• The Occupational Safety and Health Administration lists coal tar as a probable human carcinogen. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Priorities List (NPL) lists 46 sites where coal tar creosote, coal tar and coal tar pitch have been found for federal clean up. Studies of employees exposed to coal tar report 21% have increased diastolic blood pressure. Coal tar settles in lipid-rich tissues. Coal tar metabolites cross the placenta. Workers exposed to coal tar in industrial environments suffer increased risk of cancer of the skin, lung, pancreas, kidney, scrotum, prostate, rectum, bladder, and central nervous system.

Chronic Pulmonary Lung Disease

• Wild Iris Education COPD details the effects of inhaling tar and other toxins from cigarettes, asphalt or burning coal. Air becomes trapped in lung tissue damaged by filthy black tar, creating an obstruction. Some of the damaged sacs in the lung fill with fluid and are chronically obstructed. Chronic bronchitis, or chronic obstructive pulmonary lung disease, is extremely painful. The CDC COPD mortality rate reports that smoking accounts for 80-90% of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and is one of the leading causes of heart disease.