Research Paper
on Second Hand Smoke
Cigarette smoking is a major health concern in the U.S. and around the world.
Whenever someone smokes, poisons such as benzene, formaldehyde and carbon
monoxide are mustered out into the air, which means that not only is the smoker
insufflating them but so is everyone else around that person. In this regard,
every time someone lights up a cigarette, cigar, or pipe, tobacco smoke enters
the air from two sources. The first is “mainstream smoke”, which the smoker
pulls by way of the mouthpiece when he inhales or puffs. Nonsmokers are also
vulnerable to mainstream smoke after the smoker blows it. The second, and even
more dangerous source is “side stream smoke” which goes immediately into the air
from the burning tobacco. In the context, inhalation of someone else’s cigarette
smoke is called “passive smoking or secondhand smoke” and it affects the
nonsmoker. The 1986 U.S. Surgeon General’s report concluded that secondhand
smoke is a root of disease, including lung cancer, in healthy nonsmokers. In
addition, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lists it as a “Group A
carcinogen”, a rating which is used only for elements that are confirmed to
cause cancer in humans.
Order
Your Custom Term Papers and Research Papers Now!
The EPA calculates that secondhand smoke causes circa 3,000 lung cancer deaths
in nonsmokers every year. “Environmental Tobacco Smoke” (ETS) causes up to a
million sufferers of asthma and 26,000 “new” cases of asthma in children each
year. Also, the secondhand smoke has been associated to fatal heart disease, low
birth weight, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and that it is the third
principal cause of preventable death. Among children’s illness caused by the
second hand smoke include respiratory illnesses and ear infections. The second
hand smoke caused deaths are above all from cancer, heart disease and breathing
disorders. Tobacco smoke causes instantaneous effects in many people such as eye
and nasal irritation, headache, sore throat, dizziness, nausea, cough, and
respiratory problems. Children are particularly exposed to second-hand smoke
exposure as their lungs are still developing as a result of which they breathe
more per pound of body weight than the adults do.
The EPA estimates that each year between 150,000-300,000 children less than 18
months old get bronchitis or pneumonia from respiring secondhand smoke. Children
suffering from asthma are especially at risk, and second hand smoke may cause
non-asthmatic children to acquire the condition. Second hand smoke increases the
recurrence of episodes and worsens the symptoms. Second hand smoke can lead to a
buildup of fluid and infections in the middle ear.
In 1999, the World Health Organization panel resolved that maternal smoking
causes one-third to one-half of SIDS cases. In 2000, the National Toxicology
Program, which is an interdepartmental scientific review process, previously
listed secondhand smoke as a known human carcinogen in its periodic report
required by Congress. Second hand smoke causes nasal sinus cancer and kills more
Americans through heart disease than through any other disease. Many studies
have confirmed this finding with estimates of the toll in this country pasturing
from 35,000 to 62,000 deaths per year from heart disease caused by second hand
smoke, as it places extra stress on the heart and affects the body's capability
to take in and utilize oxygen. Another study shows that routine exposure to
second hand smoke at work augmented the risk of coronary heart disease by 91%;
infrequent exposure to SHS increased the risk by 58% as compared to those who
avoided the cause. In addition to asthma, other conditions include chronic
bronchitis and emphysema. Second hand smoke can cause immediate danger by
triggering attacks for the asthma sufferers. Also the preponderance of asthma
sufferers report symptoms ranging from uneasiness to acute distress from
exposure to second hand smoke.
A new study in the September issues of “Occupational and Environmental Medicine”
confirms that second hand smoke in the workplace causes poorer lung function in
employees who have at no time smoked and shows that lung function in those
employees’ decreases as exposure to second-hand smoke increases. The study also
discloses that fact that exposure to second-hand smokes also reduces lung
function in non-smoking employees.
Order
Your Custom Term Papers and Research Papers Now!
“According to the May 2001 Asthma Report by the Connecticut Department of
Health, 7.3% of adults in Connecticut suffers from asthma. In 2000, Environment
and Human Health, Inc., reported from their research that 1 out of 11 school
children in Connecticut has asthma”. Children are particularly liable to become
sick from second-hand smoke.
“Exposure to second-hand smoke can cause children to develop asthma, bronchitis,
pneumonia, other respiratory infections, and ear infections. An estimated
40%-60% of all early childhood cases of asthma, bronchitis, and wheezing are
attributable to exposure to second-hand smoke. Children who are exposed to
second-hand smoke are more likely to develop leukemia during childhood and to
develop lung cancer and heart disease later in life”.
In addition to causing disease, second-hand smoke also intensifies a number of
pre-existing health conditions, like some allergies, asthma, bronchitis, other
respiratory ailments, and heart disease. Also, in some of the cases, exposure to
second-hand smoke can stimulate severe, even life-threatening backlash in
individuals who suffer from these environmental factors. Individuals whose
previous medical history makes them notably susceptible to second-hand smoke are
effectively impeded from working in or condescending enclosed public places
where smoking is allowed, or do so only at substantial risk to their health. To
give numeric idea of the ones affected, the American Lung Association estimates
that “as of 1997, 89,400 New Mexico residents had chronic bronchitis, 59,277 had
adult asthma, and 34,363 had pediatric asthma”.
Cigarette smog contains over 4,700 chemicals, over 200 poisons, and over 50
human carcinogens. The toxins in cigarette smoke include carbon monoxide,
hydrogen cyanide, and methyl isocyanate. The carcinogens in cigarette smoke
include benzo [a] pyrene and NNK, which is the cause of lung cancer;
nitrosamines, which cause cancer of the lung, respiratory system, and other
organs; aromatic amines, which leads to the bladder and breast cancer;
formaldehyde, which bring about nasal cancer; and benzene, which induce
leukemia. To claim the fact, the carcinogen NNK has been found in nonsmokers who
have been exposed to second-hand smoke. In the environmental protection terms,
the second-hand smoke is the single most crucial cause of indoor air pollution.
While looking at the hazards, there are only two ways to exterminate the health
risks mannered by exposure to second-hand smoke in penned in public places, like
making the entire compound smoke free or restricting smoking to a separately
enclosed, ventilated room that is vented directly to the outside where
nonsmokers would not be required to go in. However, the health hazard shall not
eliminate by founding a nonsmoking zone or installing a more powerful
ventilation system. Many workplaces and businesses that identify their duty to
preserve the health of their employees have freely adopted smoke free policies.
Bibliography
Tobacco Use Prevention Service, Oklahoma State Department of Health, June 2001
He J, Vupputuri S, Allen K, et al. Passive smoking and the risk of coronary
heart disease: a meta-analysis of epidemiological studies. N Engl J Med 1999
Carey IM, Cook DG, Strachan DP. The effects of environmental tobacco smoke
exposure on lung function in a longitudinal study of British adults.
Epidemiology 1999
Asthma Triggers - Secondhand Smoke, US environmental protection agency, November
01,2002, www.epa.com
Order Your
Custom Term Papers and Research Papers Now!
