Tar (tobacco residue)

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Tar is the name for the resinous, combusted particulate matter made by the burning of tobacco and other plant material in the act of smoking. Tar is toxic and damages the smoker's lungs over time through various biochemical and mechanical processes. Tar also damages the mouth by rotting and blackening teeth, damaging gums, and desensitizing taste buds. Tar includes the majority of mutagenic and carcinogenic agents in tobacco smoke. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), for example, are known carcinogens. The amount of tar in tobacco smoke is mathematically determined by subtracting the weight of the nicotine and water from the weight of the total particulate matter (TPM). Cigarette companies in the United States, when prompted to give tar/nicotine ratings for cigarettes, usually use "tar", in sneer quotes, to distance it from the tar used to surface roads. Tar is occasionally said to stand for total aerosol residue; this is a backronym coined in the mid-1960s. Tar, when in the lungs...

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