Facts You Should Know About Second Hand
Smoke
Second hand smoke is a toxic cocktail consisting of poisons
and carcinogens. There are over 4000 chemical compounds in
second hand smoke; 200 of which are known to be poisonous, and
upwards of 60 have been identified as carcinogens.
When a cigarette is smoked, about
half of the smoke is inhaled / exhaled (mainstream smoke) by
the smoker and the other half floats around in the
air(sidestream smoke).
Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS)
plays a part in more health problems than you might realize.
The following facts point out why it is so important to have
smoking bans in place. .
Second Hand Smoke and
Cancer
The U.S. Environment
Protection Agency (EPA) has classified second hand smoke as a
Group A carcinogen.
Cancers linked to passive smoking
include:
- Lung cancer - 3000
nonsmokers die every year from lung cancer caused by
ETS
- Nasal sinus cavity
cancer
- Cervical
Cancer
- Breast cancer
- Bladder
cancer
Some chemical compounds found
in smoke only become carcinogenic after they've come into
contact with certain enzymes found in many of the tissues of
the human body.
The Risks of Second Hand
Smoke to a Child
- Low birthweight for
gestational age
- Sudden Infant Death
Syndrome (SIDS)- children whose mothers smoked during
pregnancy have an increased risk of SIDS.
- The EPA estimates that
passive smoking is responsible for between 150,000 and
300,000 of these infections in children under 18 months
annually
- Asthma - According to the
EPA, between 200,000 and 1,000,000 kids with asthma have
their condition worsened by second hand smoke every year.
Also, passive smoking may also be responsible for thousands
of new cases of asthma every year
- Chronic respiratory
symptoms such as cough and wheezing may be attributed to
second hand smoke.
- Children who breathe in
second hand smoke are more likely to suffer from dental
cavities, eye and nose irritation, and
irritability
- Middle ear infections -
exposure to ETS causes buildup of fluid in the middle ear,
resulting in 700,000 to 1.6 million physician office visits
yearly
How Second Hand Smoke
Can Affect the Heart
Heart disease mortality - an
estimated 35,000 to 62,000 deaths are caused from heart disease
in people who are not current smokers, but who are exposed to
ETS
- Acute and chronic
coronary heart disease
- Passive smoking has been
linked to the narrowing of the carotid arteries, which
carry blood to the brain
- Exposure to second hand
smoke hastens hardening of the arteries, a condition known
as artherosclerosis
- Continual exposure to ETS
has been shown to nearly double the chance of heart
attack
Second Hand Smoke -
Worse Than We Thought
Second hand smoke is serious
business, and should be a concern for anyone who breathes it
in. Non-smokers inhaling second hand smoke share some of the
health risks smokers face. But smokers do face the worst of it
- the risks of smoking are compounded by breathing the smoke in
for a second time.
Don't underestimate the dangers of ETS. While second hand smoke
may not kill as many people as smoking does, it is toxic and
claims thousands of lives every year around the world.
So why not Stop Smoking
Forever with our Self Help eBook
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