The term ‘smokeless tobacco’ is used to
describe tobacco that is consumed in un-burnt form.
Smokeless tobacco can be used orally or nasally. In
the nasal use, a small quantity of very fine tobacco
powder mixed with aromatic substances called dry
snuff is inhaled. Oral use of smokeless tobacco is
widely prevalent in the South East Asia Region; the
different forms include chewing, sucking and applying
tobacco preparations to the teeth and gums.
Smokeless tobacco use in South Asia raises
various concerns. Smokeless tobacco contains several
carcinogenic compounds. About 35–40% of tobacco
consumption in India is in smokeless forms, mostly of
the species Nicotiana rustica, while most smoking
tobacco is Nicotina tabacum. Samples of N. rustica
have been found to contain higher concentrations of
tobacco-specific nitrosamines than N. tabacum.