Smoking is the most concentrated form of pollution that most people are exposed to. Smoking tobacco has many effects on the human body. Active and passive smokers are endangering their health and even lives. The chemicals in cigarette smoke also damage our senses. The sense of smell, for example, can get weaker, as several studies show.
Humans have five senses, which are taste, smell, sight, hearing, and touch. All senses need special organs in certain parts of the body with receptors, which detect sensations around us. There are many receptors in our skin, in the ear, in the eyes, on the tongue, and in the nose. The receptors use nerves to send the information to the brain, where it is processed. Smell – as well as taste - belongs to our chemical sensing system. The receptors for smell in our nose…show more content… One study was done by the University of Pennsylvania in 1990. The study analyzed the smell function of 638 smokers, previous smokers and nonsmokers. In 2007, a German team of researchers made a survey of 1,300 people with smell impairment. The aim was to evaluate the connection of smoking to a damaged sense of smell. Both studies identified the negative effects of cigarette smoke on the olfactory system. They found out that present smokers are much more likely to have a weaker sense of smell as those who never smoked. The Scientists are not sure why smoking has such an effect. They just said it was clear that "smoking causes long-term changes in the olfactory system" (www. . The research team thinks that chemicals in the cigarette smoke damage the receptor cells in the nose. They also found out that it can take years to bring back the sense of smell after someone stopped smoking. The study by the Pennsylvania University is the type I will do in my experiment, since I will also choose smokers and non-smokers and grade their sense of