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Smoking ages your skin and causes wrinkles, especially around the face and mouth. A thirty-year-old person who has been smoking for ten years may be mistaken for 40 or even older because of his or her poor skin quality. It also discolors your teeth and fingers, giving them an unattractive, yellowish color. Would you want to kiss a mouth full of all those yellow teeth? Or worse, a mouth with missing teeth caused by gum disease and tooth loss? In addition, smoking can actually affect your body shape. Studies have shown that in smokers, more fat is stored around the waist and upper body than around the hips. Smoking can actually give you a rounder shape.

main idea for this paragraph. A main idea should be one sentence and contain an umbrella term or phrase that can cover all of the ideas in the paragraph.

Cigarette smoke permeates your hair and clothing. People can tell you have been smoking long after you have finished. How often have you come back from a break only to smell the odor of cigarettes surrounding a smoking co-worker? In addition, smoke particles can be as small as .001% the width of a human hair, which allows them to penetrate almost any part of a house. The smell can seep into carpet, furniture, and even walls. Even if a person stops smoking for a few days before guests arrive, a non-smoking guest will be able to tell that smoking has occurred.

main idea for this paragraph. A main idea should be one sentence and contain an umbrella term or phrase that can cover all of the ideas in the paragraph.

Nine out of ten cases of lung cancer are caused by smoking. Smoking can also cause severe breathing problems, causing heavy coughing and trouble inhaling. As if that weren’t bad enough, smokers are ten times more likely to die from heart attacks or stroke. Smoking causes major damage to the veins and arteries, too. Many long-term smokers suffer from peripheral vascular disease, which narrows their blood vessels, causing gangrene in the fingers, toes, arms, and legs. In severe cases, amputation of the affected areas becomes necessary.

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One person’s cigarette can affect a roomful of people who breathe that smoke. Cigarette smoke contains over 7000 chemicals. Exposure to a smoker’s smoke can cause a greater risk for heart attacks, lung cancer, and heart disease in the non-smokers. Children who are consistently exposed to second-hand cigarette smoke are much more likely to develop ear infections, asthma, and other respiratory problems. Small children who eat cigarette butts can experience stomach pain, vomiting, or even choke to death.

main idea for this paragraph. A main idea should be one sentence and contain an umbrella term or phrase that can cover all of the ideas in the paragraph.

Cigarette butts thrown casually on the ground make up 23-36% of all discarded waste in the United States. It is estimated that 1.69 billion pounds of butts wind up as toxic trash every year. Contrary to popular belief, they are not biodegradable; they will not break down over time. They contain toxic poisons and plastics that never disappear. According to the Center for Marine Conservation, cigarette butts account for one in every five items collected on beaches during cleanups, making them the most prevalent form of litter on earth. Butts have been found in the stomach of birds, animals, and marine life like fish and whales. Butts that are thrown away still lit can also cause fires. In 2001, someone threw a lit cigarette out the window of their car in California, starting a fire that eventually burned more than 10,000 acres of land, destroyed 16 homes, and burned 64 vehicles.