LiveLeak footage shows ex-smoker coughing up black tar from his lungs

November 21, 2016

The unnamed man had been smoking both of the substances since 2008
But since quitting recently, he has been producing liquid from his lungs
Experts believe the substance to be residual tar as a result of his habit

Stephen Matthews For Mailonline

Published:
05:51 EST, 21 November 2016

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Updated:
07:29 EST, 21 November 2016

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This is the disgusting moment a former smoker coughed up black tar from the bottom of his lungs.

In the grim footage, the unnamed man revealed he had smoked marijuana and cigarettes but recently quit.

He can heard aggressively coughing before spitting out a watery, dark-coloured liquid at his home in California.

Experts believe the substance to be residual tar that has collected in his lungs as a result of his previous habit.

Tar-like mucus builds up on the lungs as a result of smoking – but the organ removes as much as it can within 10 years of quitting.

Since being posted on Liveleak yesterday, the clip has amassed nearly 40,000 views.

He captioned the video: ‘I used to smoke marijuana and cigarettes daily for eight years, since I stopped I have been coughing up this black and grey spit. It’s disgusting!’

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One commenter wrote: ‘I went through that too, but this looks worse. It’s worth it though. I feel so much better 18 years after quitting.’

Tobacco smoke is known to contain more than 4,000 chemicals, including more than 70 that can cause cancer.

In the grim footage, the unnamed man revealed he had smoked marijuana and cigarettes but recently quit. He captioned the video: ‘I used to smoke marijuana and cigarettes daily for eight years, since I stopped I have been coughing up this black and grey spit. It’s disgusting!’

While earlier this month US scientists found smoking a pack of cigarettes a day can cause 150 damaging changes to the lung cells.

Cigarette tar that is absorbed by the lungs destroys the cilia – fine hairs that line the upper airways and protect against infection.

When this is damaged, tar is able to penetrate further into the lungs and can inflict more damage, experts say.

Previous research has found those who stop smoking by the age of 40 can gain an extra ten years of life.

And German researchers once found that even life-long smokers who gave up smoking later still experienced a massive 40 per cent reduction in the risk of heart attack and stroke within just five years.

Smoking kills six million people a year worldwide and, if current trends continue, the World Health Organization predicts more than 1 billion tobacco-related deaths this century.