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Tobacco Free Initiative |
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Key areas and groups Passive smoking The Facts World Health Organization Western Pacific Region IF YOU THINK YOU ARE A NON-SMOKER Wherever people smoke there is going to be increased risk of disease. The overall increase in risk for people who smoke a pack a day for twenty years is:
Smoking has also been shown to be involved in many other diseases including cancers of the larynx, oesophagus, pharynx, lip, bladder, colon and cervix. It also increases risk of stroke and heart disease. Tobacco smoke contains some 4000 different chemicals. At least 43 of these are known to cause cancer. It is because of the known effect of smoking on disease that the issue of involuntary smoke or passive smoking has become so significant. There are two major sources of smoke: 1. Mainstream smoke: This is inhaled by the smoker and contains up to 4700 different compounds. Many of these are added in the manufacture of cigarettes to enhance the burning, texture or taste of the cigarette. 2. Sidestream smoke: This smoke is released from the side of the cigarette and comes from the burning tip. This combines with the mainstream smoke exhaled by the smoker to form environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). Most of the ETS comes from sidestream smoke. Exposureto this ETh or secondhand smoke is called passive or involuntary smoking. POISONS IN SIDESTREAM SMOKE
Sidestream smoke is more hazardous than mainstream smoke because it burns at a higher temperature and is virtually unfiltered. When compared to mainstream smoke, sidestream smoke contains higher amounts of ammonia, benzene, nicotine, carbon monoxide, and a number of cancer causing agents. There is now convincing evidence that passive smoking can contribute to a number of diseases in otherwise healthy people in a similar way to mainstream smoke. "The link between passive smoking and health problems is now as solid as any finding in epidemiology".1 This is of particular concern in children where it is known to lead to asthma, pneumonia, and lung and ear infections. Some of the interesting findings about secondhand smoke are: • Secondhand smoke has been classified as a Group A carcinogen or cause of cancer in humans by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).2 • In healthy adults, the short-term effect is associated with odour, annoyance, irritation of the eyes, nose and throat, headache and cough. Irritation of the eyes is the most common effect. • Healthy adults exposed to passive smoke over a period of time have been shown to have reduced lung function with similar changes to those seen in light smokers. For people with pre-existing health problems such as allergies, hay fever and asthma as well as those with heart or lung disease, an even more significant effect is likely to occur. Those people working in restaurants, bars and other places with increased exposure to passive smoke are likely to have an increased occupational risk of lung cancer of at least 5O%.3
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