World No Tobacco Day – Second Hand Smoke Danger
May 31st 2007 03:47
In conjunction of the World No Tobacco Day, which is dated every year 31 May, I’d like to encourage those who have been smoking a lot to know more about this issue and why it is launched at the first place.
To know more about it please click the link below to know more about it:
World No Tobacco Day
So today’s article is more about 2nd hand smoke’s effect on health. It doesn’t link directly to smokers, but those who smokes and people who are around smokers should also take note about this because the rate of causing cancer because of 2nd hand smoke is increasing rapidly. So what is it and how it affects health anyway?
Article extracted from canadian-health-network.ca
What is second-hand smoke?
Second-hand smoke is produced when a cigarette burns. It is made up of two components:
- mainstream smoke - what a smoker inhales and exhales
- sidestream smoke - what comes from the end of a burning cigarette (or cigar or pipe).
What's in second-hand smoke?
Second-hand smoke contains many of the same harmful chemicals that a smoker inhales. Some of these cause cancer (carcinogens), like benzene and nickel. Other ingredients are poisons, like carbon monoxide and ammonia. This is a list of substances found in second-hand smoke.
You can't see or even smell many of the harmful ingredients in second-hand smoke. Fans, ventilation systems and air purifiers may get rid of the cigarette smoke smell, but they don't remove the harmful chemicals.
Why is second-hand smoke more harmful than what smokers inhale?
Second-hand smoke has twice as much nicotine and tar as the smoke that smokers inhale directly from their cigarettes. It also has five times as much carbon monoxide. Sidestream smoke is particularly dangerous. It contains the same carcinogens as mainstream smoke, but in even higher concentrations. A lit cigarette left sitting in an ashtray burns more slowly than when a person actively puffs on it, so it releases more smoke into the air. About two-thirds of the smoke from a burning cigarette is never inhaled by the smoker and goes directly into the environment.
What are the effects of second-hand smoke?
When you inhale second-hand smoke, harmful chemicals go into your lungs and are absorbed into your blood, organs and other body tissues. Your health can be affected after only eight minutes in a smoke-filled room...even when you're not smoking.
In the short term, second-hand smoke can:
* irritate your eyes, nose and throat
* give you a headache
* make you feel dizzy or nauseous
* make your asthma worse
* increase your risk of respiratory infections like colds, bronchitis or pneumonia, or make them worse if you're already sick.
The longer you're exposed to second-hand smoke, the more it will affect your health. For example, if you work in a smoky bar or restaurant, you could eventually develop serious health problems.
Some of the long-term effects of second-hand smoke are:
* heart disease
* lung cancer
* nasal-sinus cancer
* non-malignant respiratory disease.
Second-hand smoke is also linked to:
* stroke
* breast cancer
* cervical cancer.
If you're pregnant and regularly exposed to second-hand smoke, you face an increased risk of:
* miscarriage
* having a low-birth-weight baby
* losing your baby to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of second-hand smoke. For more information about how to protect your children, you can read Health Canada's guide called, "Make your home and car smoke-free: A guide to protecting your family from second-hand smoke."
To know more about it please click the link below to know more about it:
World No Tobacco Day
Article extracted from canadian-health-network.ca
What is second-hand smoke?
Second-hand smoke is produced when a cigarette burns. It is made up of two components:
- mainstream smoke - what a smoker inhales and exhales
- sidestream smoke - what comes from the end of a burning cigarette (or cigar or pipe).
What's in second-hand smoke?
Second-hand smoke contains many of the same harmful chemicals that a smoker inhales. Some of these cause cancer (carcinogens), like benzene and nickel. Other ingredients are poisons, like carbon monoxide and ammonia. This is a list of substances found in second-hand smoke.
You can't see or even smell many of the harmful ingredients in second-hand smoke. Fans, ventilation systems and air purifiers may get rid of the cigarette smoke smell, but they don't remove the harmful chemicals.
Why is second-hand smoke more harmful than what smokers inhale?
Second-hand smoke has twice as much nicotine and tar as the smoke that smokers inhale directly from their cigarettes. It also has five times as much carbon monoxide. Sidestream smoke is particularly dangerous. It contains the same carcinogens as mainstream smoke, but in even higher concentrations. A lit cigarette left sitting in an ashtray burns more slowly than when a person actively puffs on it, so it releases more smoke into the air. About two-thirds of the smoke from a burning cigarette is never inhaled by the smoker and goes directly into the environment.
What are the effects of second-hand smoke?
When you inhale second-hand smoke, harmful chemicals go into your lungs and are absorbed into your blood, organs and other body tissues. Your health can be affected after only eight minutes in a smoke-filled room...even when you're not smoking.
In the short term, second-hand smoke can:
* irritate your eyes, nose and throat
* give you a headache
* make you feel dizzy or nauseous
* make your asthma worse
* increase your risk of respiratory infections like colds, bronchitis or pneumonia, or make them worse if you're already sick.
The longer you're exposed to second-hand smoke, the more it will affect your health. For example, if you work in a smoky bar or restaurant, you could eventually develop serious health problems.
Some of the long-term effects of second-hand smoke are:
* heart disease
* lung cancer
* nasal-sinus cancer
* non-malignant respiratory disease.
Second-hand smoke is also linked to:
* stroke
* breast cancer
* cervical cancer.
If you're pregnant and regularly exposed to second-hand smoke, you face an increased risk of:
* miscarriage
* having a low-birth-weight baby
* losing your baby to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of second-hand smoke. For more information about how to protect your children, you can read Health Canada's guide called, "Make your home and car smoke-free: A guide to protecting your family from second-hand smoke."
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