Ammonia in Cigarettes Is Found to Boost Nicotine Impact 100 Times
From Times staff and wire reports
An Oregon scientist has found that the ammonia added to commercially made cigarettes can boost the impact of nicotine 100 times, according to a study in the August issue of the journal Environmental Science & Technology. Critics of the tobacco industry have long claimed that ammonia enhances the effect of nicotine--although tobacco companies have denied it--but the new study is the first to show how much.
The process of heightening nicotine is called “freebasing,” and is similar to the chemical process used by hard-core cocaine addicts. Like cocaine, nicotine exists in two forms--acid and base. When ammonia is added, the nicotine is converted from acid to base form. The base form is much more readily available to the body.
