Why does snuff cause so much mucous to form in the sinuses and drip down the throat ? I usually have to blow my nose once, or perhaps twice , after a good snort. But I have to hack out the mucous at least a half dozen times ? Is that due to the ammonia or other chemical agents added to help absorb the nicotine ?
It’s because you’re putting tobacco dust up your nose.Mucus is there to clean your nose , and since it’s filled with snuff all day it tries to do its best job ==> more mucus. I don’t think anybody adds ammonia or other chemicals to snuff. The ammonia smell in fresh snuff is there because it’s released by the tobacco leaves during the grinding process. It only makes sense to treat cigarettes with chemical agents such as ammonia because it frees up nicotine from it’s bound state (to other chemicals) and hence more of it is absorbed. In cigarettes a lot of the nicotine burns up (oxidizes) and becomes useless because nicotine burns up at a lower temperature than it boils. So they add ammonia. Snuff on the other hand comes in direct contact with the mucous membranes in your nose and so nicotine gets absorbed directly into the bloodstream. None of it burns away so you don’t need to increase the amount of free-form nicotine.
Potash, soda, lime etc. are still added to snuff to act as a reagent for the nicotine. It’s the reaction of the alkalizers with water and tobacco that cause the ammonia generation in some snuffs. They also help influence the flavour of the snuff. That’s actually one of the primary reasons for the distinctive differences in Indian, European and South African snuffs. Lime is the primary alkalizer in India; potash in Europe, & soda in the Africa. Sometimes more than one these is used and other substances are used as well. They’re also used in American dry snuffs.USST product ingredientsSwedish Match product ingredients
That’s pretty interesting snuffgrinder, thanks 
What I want to see is TSNA data from all the major manufacturers worldwide. Note that they’re supporting the proposed FDA regulation of tobacco products which is no surprise since USST is owned by Altria. But I wonder what they’ll do if the FDA bans the use of fire cured tobacco in their products as it should if this regulation means anything.
Wait a second. Are ya’ll telling me that a toast snuff has a significantly higher TSNA count than a non-toasted snuff? Wouldn’t you have to inhale the smoke to receive the additional TSNA generated by the toasting process?
Fire curing is a method of drying, or curing, green tobacco leaf by essentially smoking the tobacco in the same way as curing hams by hanging tobacco in a closed barn under very smoky slow fires for several weeks. It actually leaves a glaze of combustion byproducts on the tobacco. These react with nicotine to produce high levels of TSNAs in the leaf itself. Unfortunately, these levels get even higher when tobacco undergoes fermentation which is still done in American moist and dry snuff production. Toasting tobacco for snuff is a different process. An HDT may have slightly elevated TSNAs, AFAIK no research has been done on that subject.
snuffgrinder, Thanks. Your insights and info are truly amazing sir.
I am not convinced it’s important.
Tom, please explain
Well, these things are found in common foods. Snuff has been around for 100’s of years. I don’t see cases of people’s noses falling off. People smoke, some get cancer, some don’t, non smokers get cancer, lung even. My point is, it’s irrelevant, and any concern is not supported with real facts.
Gottcha, I think there is some truth to what you say. It may not be the whole story but its certainly a part of it. Anyway Tom thanks for the response
Fact of the matter is no real data has been collected that TSNAs actually cause cancer, at least directly related. Many posts on TSNA counts that have been posted has shown Dry Snuffs such as Bruton and all have over 1000!!! while it showed cigs had around 100 ppm. Keep in mind that any study done will reflect the views of the company paying for it. Tobacco compnaies have payed out millions on studies and their studies show no corralation to tobacco causing cancer, while the US Government has paid out millions also which say they proved without a doubt smoking causes cancer. Same with the NFL, The owners of teams have done a study showing that most of the injured players are hurt around weeks 8 - 10 and most players are healthy around week 15-16 ( the end of the season ) so they are arguing for 2 more weeks added to the NFL season. When actually when the season is drawing to an end more players are playing hurt vying for a playoff spot and early in the year the temas doing well will lie about the players who are hurt to keep them fresh for the home stretch, which has been going on for years and is actually a good strategy. If you are a tobacco lover then enjoy whichever form of tobacco you choose. TSNAs shouldnt be a concern. Your genes and overall family history play more a major role in your chances of terminal illness and cancers. Case in point - whomever pays for a tobacco related study will get the results they were hoping for.
Well, in a way, snuff is a concentrated form of the ciggarette, as that 1g of snuff equals a pack of ciggs. That’s what I read on some QWS material. Of course the harm from ciggs is inhaling burning leaf(and other stuff) smoke, and with snuff you don’t have that, just powdered tobacco and some flavorings, which is sniffed into the nose cavity. Some may get in the lung, and throat stomach, but either way it’s not the smoke of burning stuff.
Yeah, its my understanding most scientists agree its the actual burning of the tobacco that produces the carcinogens that are thought to cause cancer. As the inhalation of the tobacco constantly irritates the lining and mucousal membranes of the lungs and constant abuse doesnt allow the lungs to heal/replace the mucus and this irritation and combined results may be the link in breathing diseases and cancer. Also, smoking has been shown to cause more oral problems than oral tobacco such as cancers and gingivitis.
Cancer aside, if you smoke enough, you will get emphezima. This is just mechanical - cause and effect. Of course most people die from whatever else before that effect catches up to them.