By Julie Blackwood
True or False? Non-smokers don’t have to worry about getting
lung cancer from cigarettes.
False: An estimated 60,000 people in the United States die each year
because of their exposure to second-hand smoke. Of these, 3,000 deaths
are from lung cancer.
Some people may think that “ignorance is bliss,” but
this is one case where what you don’t know could kill you. Although
the health risks of smoking have been documented for more than four
decades, it has only been in the past 15-20 years that the role of
second-hand smoke in lung cancer and other diseases has been studied.
There are more than 4,000 chemicals in second-hand smoke. Of these,
more than 50 compounds have been identified as being carcinogenic.
Six others have been identified as developmental or reproductive toxicants.
In 1986, independent reports from the International Agency for Research
on Cancer, the National Research Council Committee on Passive Smoking,
and the US Department of Health and Human Services pinpointed second-hand
smoke as a cause of lung cancer. The US Environmental Protection Agency
in 1992 classified second-hand smoke as a group A (known human) cancer-causing
agent.
Health risks of second-hand smoke for women can be severe. According
to the American Cancer Society: “Overall, nonsmoking wives of
husbands who smoke have a 20% increased risk of lung cancer compared
with women whose husbands don’t smoke. Nonsmokers married to
heavy smokers (40+ cigarettes per day) were found to have twice the
risk of lung cancer compared with those married to nonsmokers. Nonsmokers
married to smokers had about 20% higher coronary heart disease mortality
over nonsmoking couples.
Other research has shown that a woman who has never smoked has an
estimated 24% greater risk of lung cancer if she lives with a smoker.
The risk of lung cancer for a non-smoker increases as the years of
exposure to the smoker and the amount that person smokes increase.
Second-hand smoke in the workplace is a greater health risk to non-smokers
than smoke in the home, because there’s a greater level of consistent
exposure and the amount of smoke is greater because there are more
smokers. One study on lung cancer in non-smoking females determined
the risk of lung cancer was 1.67 times greater for women exposed to
smoke at home, but almost three times as great for those exposed at
work.
In West Virginia, “diseases of the heart” leads the causes
of death. Heart disease kills more women than does any type of cancer.
Second-hand smoke contributes to heart disease, and can worsen an
existing heart condition. Research has shown people who never smoked
increase their risk of heart disease by an estimated 30% if they live
with a smoker. Exposure to second-hand smoke has also been found harmful
to children and unborn babies. In 1997, the California Environmental
Protection Agency linked second-hand smoke to cases of low birth-weight
infants and cited it as a cause of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
Second-hand smoke exposure places children at greater risk for ear
infections, bronchitis, pneumonia, colds and chronic coughs, reduced
lung function, and asthma. The number, severity and duration of asthma
episodes increase with prolonged exposure to second-hand smoke
True or False? Exposure to second-hand smoke is inevitable; there
is nothing one can do about it.
False: While it may not be possible to entirely eliminate second-hand
smoke exposure, there are steps that can minimize the risk. Make home
a smoke-free zone and ask smokers to light up outside. Don’t
allow smoking in your vehicle. The small, enclosed space, even with
an open window,, greatly increases the level of exposure to cancer-causing
chemicals.
Help everyone reduce the damage from second hand smoke. Support clean
indoor air regulations that restrict smoking in work and public places.
Julie Blackwood, MA is the Tobacco Cessation Program Coordinator,
CAMC Institute For the CAMC Health Information Center. For more information,
call
1-888-HEALTHY.
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