Secondhand
smoke is a mixture of the smoke exhaled by smokers and the smoke
that comes from the burning end of a cigarette, cigar, or pipe.
You also may have heard it called environmental tobacco smoke
(ETS), passive, or involuntary smoke. Secondhand smoke contains
more than 4,000 substances. Many of them are dangerous poisons
and can cause cancer. Anyone exposed to secondhand smoke inhales
these substances.
Lung
disease, including lung cancer, is the third leading cause
of death in the U.S. Secondhand smoke:
- Can
cause lung cancer in nonsmokers; the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency lists it as a Group A carcinogen, a rating
used only for substances (i.e., asbestos) proven to cause
cancer in humans .
- Will
cause an estimated 3,000 lung cancer deaths this year.
- Can
be a direct health threat to people who already have heart
and lung diseases.
- Increases
the risk of serious lung disease during the first two years
of a child's life.
- Nonsmokers
who live with smokers are more likely to develop lung cancer
than other nonsmoking adults.
- If
you have asthma, secondhand smoke can make your breathing
problems worse.
- Young
children are especially sensitive to secondhand smoke. A
baby who lives in a home where one or both parents smoke
is more likely to have lung disease serious enough to need
treatment in a hospital during the first two years of life.
- Children
exposed to secondhand smoke in the home are more likely
to cough and wheeze and to have middle ear problems.
- Don't
allow smoking in your home. Ask smokers to smoke outside
or, if you must, limit smoking to a separately ventilated
room.
- Be
supportive. Help the smoker to quit.
- Place
"Thank You for Not Smoking" signs around the house.
- Do
not allow babysitters or others who work in your home to
smoke in the house.
NIOSH
(National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) has
determined that secondhand smoke may cause lung cancer in exposed
workers.
- On-the-job
exposure to secondhand smoke can be four times higher than
in the home.
- Secondhand
smoke can irritate your eyes, nose and throat.
- Some
workers are already exposed to substances that can cause
lung disease. Secondhand smoke in the workplace can only
increase the danger.
- To
protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke, the workplace
must be totally smoke free or smoking must be limited to
a separate, enclosed area with its own ventilation system.
As of 1991, about 4 out of 10 American companies with smoking
policies were smoke free.
Smoke
free worksites can be tough on smokers. Here are some tips for
coping:
- In
smoke free areas, do something to take your mind off smoking.
Take a walk or stretch. Have a glass of water or a light
snack.
- If
you must smoke, make sure you are not in a "No Smoking"
area before you light up and don't let cigarettes smolder
in ashtrays.
- Try
to quit smoking. See if your company offers any programs
to help you quit or contact one of the organizations listed
on the back of this booklet.
- First,
find out your company's smoking policy. Ask what steps have
been taken to protect the nonsmoker from second hand smoke
(NIOSH states that workers should be protected from exposure
to secondhand smoke.
- If
you're not satisfied with the policy, talk to your employer.
Contact resources listed in this document for more information.
- Be
a leader in helping to draw up a fair plan for a smoke free
workplace. Ask coworkers what they want and would be willing
to do.
- If
your workplace is not smoke free, use "Thank You for Not
Smoking" signs in your work area.
- Know
the law. If you work in a school, hospital or other public
facility, you already may be covered by a law prohibiting
smoking. Some laws also require privately owned companies
to have a smoking policy. In most states, employers must
provide reasonably safe workplaces. This law may prove more
powerful now that secondhand smoke is known to cause cancer.
More
people are becoming worried about secondhand smoke and less
willing to be exposed to it. About 82% of all adult Americans
think that smokers should not smoke around nonsmokers.
To avoid
or reduce second-hand smoke in public places:
- Take
advantage of laws designed to protect you. By law, all airline
flights six hours or less within the U.S. and all interstate
bus travel are smoke free. State and local laws regulating
smoking in public places vary greatly. Contact your local
Lung Association, listed in the white pages of the phone
book, to find out about the laws in your area.
- Push
for stronger laws. Write letters to newspapers and to your
public officials urging that public places be smoke free.
- Make
sure your child's day care, preschool, school and after-school
programs are smoke free.
- Go
to restaurants that are smoke free or have smoke free sections.
- Let
smokers know that you do mind if they smoke around you.
- The
American Lung Association
- National
Office
- 1740
Broadway
- New
York, NY 10019-4374
- (212)
315-8700
- Or
contact your local Lung Association listed in the white
pages of the phone book.
- Office
on Smoking and Health
- Centers
for Disease Control
- National
Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
- Mail
Stop K-50
- 4770
Buford Highway
- Atlanta,
GA 30341
- U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
- Indoor
Air Quality Information Clearinghouse
- 1-800-438-4318
- National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
- 4676
Columbia Parkway
- Cincinnati,
Ohio 45226-1998
- 1-800-35-NIOSH
- National
Cancer Institute
- Building
31, Room 10A24
- Bethesda,
MD 20892
- 1-800-4-CANCER
- The
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Information Center
- 4733
Bethesda Avenue, Suite 530
- Bethesda,
MD 20814
Publication #: 1085
This
document is an American Lung Association document.
It was developed in collaboration with the National Heart,
Lung and Blood Institute, the Centers for Disease Control
and the National Cancer Institute and was funded by a grant
from DuPont. Publication date: 1992.
The
American Lung Association, National Office, 1740 Broadway,
New York, NY, 10019-437
Disclaimer and Reproduction Information: Information in
NASD does not represent NIOSH policy. Information included in
NASD appears by permission of the author and/or copyright holder.
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