E-mail to friends
Print

Instant Activism - Toxic Mix

Toxic Mix

Nutritious and delicious? No, not really. Toxic and carcinogenic is more like it.  Tobacco, cigarettes and secondhand smoke contain thousands of chemicals - including those nasty cancer causing carcinogens.  We know that tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, with at least 69 of them identified as carcinogens.  The tobacco in cigarettes and spit tobacco contains some of these chemicals too, and even more are formed when you burn tobacco - which is why so many chemicals are present in the actual tobacco smoke. 

So, what's in this toxic mix?  Arsenic, which is used in rat poison. Acetic acid, which is found in vinegar and hair dye.  Acetone, the main ingreient in nail polish remover.  Ammonia, a household cleaning fluid.  Cadmium, found in batteries and oil paints. Stearic acid, found in candle wax, and formaldehyde, which is used to embalm dead bodies (and preserve small animals, like frogs, so check with your science teacher about borrowing this one).

You will likely be able to find many of these products in your own home - just ask your parents if you can borrow them for this event.  If you need to buy a few of these examples, you should be able to find a bunch of them at low prices, or you may be able to convince a local store to donate a few items.  It doesn't hurt to ask.

What can you do to let people know about this?  Show them.  Gather some of these common household products together and let these props reinforce how deadly these chemicals really are.  Get permission to set up a display at a busy store, at school, at a special event in our community.  Even see if a popular store might donate space in a store-front window - whatever you can do to reach as many people as you can.

Check out examples of palm cards here. Feel free to use these as is, add to them, or create your own. And we have a template for you to print out "ingredient label" stickers.  For more information about similar events around the country, visit www.kickbuttsday.org and check out the "They put WHAT in a cigarette?!" event in the "Activities" section.

If you don't have access to a printer or the resources to buy sticker labels, please contact us at toxicmix@bethecatalyst.org.
 

Tagged:
instant_activism