Chew

Chew is tobacco that is not smoked. It is placed between the cheek and gums. Nicotine gets in the body through the lining of the mouth. Other names are smokeless tobacco, spit tobacco, dip, snuff or snus.

Nicotine and Chew

The amount of nicotine you get depends on:
- Brand
- How much you use
- How long you leave it in
An average-size dip left in your mouth for 30 minutes can give you as much nicotine as smoking 3 cigarettes.

What’s in Chew?

In addition to nicotine, chew contains at least 28 cancer-causing chemicals like:

Polonium 210 – used to make sheet plastics
Benzene – found in rubber cement
Nitrosamines- can cause cancer

Other chemicals:

Cadmium - used in batteries
Cyanide - poison
Arsenic – found in rat poison
Lead - once used in paint

Health Risks

Cancer Chew can cause cancer of the mouth, tongue, cheek, gum, throat and pancreas.
Mouth lesions. About 3 out of 4 daily chewers have leukoplakia, white patches in the mouth that can cause cancer.
Heart disease. The nicotine in chew can make heart rate and blood pressure go up, which can lead to heart disease.
Gum disease. Even with regular dental care, chew can cause tooth loss, receding gums, stained teeth, and bad breath.
Chew contains a lot of sugar that can weaken teeth and cause cavities.

Warning Signs

Talk with your doctor if you have any of the following:

A lump in the neck
Change in the voice
A growth or white spots in the mouth
Hard time swallowing
Earache that won’t go away
Blood in saliva or phlegm
Changes in skin

Quitting Chew

The Helpline provides free help tobacco chewers quit. Hundreds of tobacco chewers have already quit. You can too!

Call the California Tobacco Chewers’ Helpline at 1-800-844-CHEW to get started. Click HERE for info on how to quit chew.

Other Resources

National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research – info about smokeless tobacco and links to other resources.
My Last Dip – a web-based research project funded by the National Cancer Institute to help chewers quit.