Second hand smoke kills
[ 2006-06-30 10:39 ]
A new US public health report concludes there is no safe level of
environmental tobacco smoke. The nation's top public health physician, the
Surgeon General, says inhaling someone else's tobacco smoke leads to an
immediate chain of biological events that can lead to disease in a non-smoker
and even death.
Last month, an Ontario, Canada woman named Heather Crowe, a non-smoker, died
of lung cancer. For years, she had worked long shifts as a waitress in
smoke-filled restaurants. Before her death, she filmed this statement. "My
doctor told me I had a smoker's tumor. I never smoked. The air was blue where I
worked and I am dying from second-hand
smoke," she said.
US. Surgeon General Richard Carmona showed that film to emphasize the key
point in his new report on the dangers of environmental tobacco smoke. "There is
no risk-free level of second-hand smoke exposure. Only smoke-free environments
effectively protect non-smokers from second-hand smoke exposure in indoor
spaces," he said.
Among the report's major points are these: Non-smokers exposed to second-hand
smoke increase their risk of developing heart disease and lung cancer by as much
as 30 percent. Exposure is also a known cause of sudden infant death syndrome
and childhood ailments such as breathing problems, ear infections, and asthma
attacks.
Carmona says even brief exposure to environmental tobacco smoke can cause
immediate harm to the circulatory system. "Science has shown now that within the
first few minutes that you are exposed, there's an effect on clotting systems,
there's an effect on blood vessels so that it's not going to kill you then, but
what you are doing is accepting the fact that the cascade is going to start
right then," he said.
Surgeon General Richard Carmona says second-hand smoke also leads to
immediate cellular changes that can cause cancers.
The conclusions are not new. The mounting evidence has caused the World
Health Organization to campaign against involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke
for years. Its Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which went into effect
last year, commits the 131 signing nations, including the United States, to
adopt measures against it.
In addition, The WHO and the US. government's Environmental Protection Agency
have joined forces to support pilot projects protecting children from second
hand smoke in China, Vietnam, Poland, and Latvia.
And the World Health Organization's western hemisphere branch, the Pan
American Health Organization, launched a "Smoke-Free Americas" campaign five
years ago to provide technical help to regional governments to reduce
passive smoking exposure.
The U.S. Surgeon General's report is based on the same scientific findings
that drive these efforts. Carmona says he issued it now to raise the awareness
of US citizens. Government figures show that the percentage of Americans who
smoke has dropped by half in the last 40 years to 21 percent, but 44 million
continue to do so.
He makes an appeal to them. "Make your home a smoke-free environment even if
you are struggling to quit and get help as quickly as you can," he said.
second-hand smoke: e |
