* Source is the packaging I’ve just read for a pack of tobacco in the UK which says it has 70 cancer causing substances
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Nicotine, the active ingredient in tobacco, is created by the plant to prevent things from eating it. Often irritants to insects and animals (yes, insects are animals, but they’re important to point out in particular) end up being cancer-causing both because of how they irritate, and because the more damage they do the more likely the predator is to avoid the plant either by learning or through evolution.
Also, generally tobacco is smoked, so any warning related to its chemical composition will be in the context of those chemicals entering the lungs. Generally most chemicals are dangerous in the lungs: people who inhale soot from a house fire are also at a higher risk of cancer. Since tobacco is usually smoked, even if you’re not buying a smokeable version, the testing for if the chemicals are cancerous was likely done regarding cigarettes. (This doesn’t mean that there’s no risk, though. Chewing tobacco is still known to increase the risk of cancer.)
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