What is secondhand smoke? Secondhand smoke is a mixture of the smoke from an actively burning cigarette and can also be the smoke exhaled from a smoker. There are two different types of secondhand smoke: Side stream smoke which comes directly from burning tobacco and also Mainstream smoke which is the smoke that the person smoking inhales. Although the smoke that the smoker inhales is very dangerous and harmful to the body, the smoke off of a burning cigarette actually contains more harmful substances due to the smoke not being filtered when coming off of the end of the cigarette. The people being harmed the most by secondhand smoke happens to be children. Children have no choice but to endure the secondhand smoke coming off of their parents cigarettes causing them to be trapped in a harmful environment. There should be laws that prohibit parents from smoking around their children because of all the harmful dangers of secondhand smoke.
Being exposed to secondhand smoke can be more harmful to your body than the person actually smoking. If you are exposed on a daily basis, your body can still absorb the nicotine as if you’re the one smoking every day. According to the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, smoke contains more than 4,000 specific chemical compounds. More than 250 of the chemicals are toxic and more than 50 are researched to having cancer-causing agents. Smoke, and the substances that go along with it, can actually linger around in the air for more than 4 hours and it would only take minutes of breathing them in to harm you. Within 5 minutes of exposure to secondhand smoke, it can stiffen your aorta and within 20 minutes, the substances in secondhand smoke can cause your blood to clot and can increase the build-up of fat depos...
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"How We Can Protect Our Children From Secondhand Smoke: A Parents Guide"
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Have you ever had a friend or family member die of lung cancer or of a smoking related death. In America over 160,000 men and women die each year from lung cancer. That is a less than then breast and colon cancer combined. The leading cause of lung cancer in the United States is smoking tobacco. When you smoke a cigarette you are inhaling the nicotine at a very high rate in which allows it to go through your blood stream faster. Some might say that smoking just affects themselves, although they are highly incorrect. Second hand smoking is when a person inhales the excess smoke; in some occasions it can be worse than actually smoking. You might think you are cool at the time for smoking, but have you ever thought
Smoking cigarettes have negative effects on not only the people who smoke, but also the people around them and the environment. Smoking cigarettes lead to many diseases and negative health effects, such as lung cancer, emphysema, and heart disease. Second hand smoke can lead to the same side effects. However, the dangers of second hand smoke tend to be generally greater than that of first hand smoke, which is what the smoker inhales.
... U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of
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Smoking cigarettes is a detrimental practice not only to the smoker, but also to everyone around the smoker. According to an article from the American Lung Association, “Health Effects” (n.d.), “Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., causing over 438,000 deaths per year”. The umbrella term for tobacco use includes the use of cigarettes, cigars, e-cigs and chewing tobacco. While tobacco causes adverse health consequences, it also has been a unifying factor for change in public health. While the tobacco industries targets specific populations, public health specifically targets smokers, possible smokers, and the public to influence cessation, policies and education.
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Imagine a room full of young, healthy second-graders with a Joe Camel cigarette in their hand, smoking; that is basically what secondhand smoking is like. It has toxic and carcinogenic effects that are practically the same as smoking a cigarette. Children from birth to 2 years of age are especially vulnerable to secondhand smoke because their lungs are not fully developed.
The damage that can be done in the inside of the body will last with the person throughout their lifetime. It blackens the lungs and causes lung cancer. Secondhand smoke can also lead to heart disease. Researchers have found that some deaths result in ischemic heart disease. “Nevertheless, this is likely and underestimate” (Wendy Max), told LiveScience. Studies show that people have a greater risk of lung cancer as opposed to heart disease. Secondhand smoke plays a role in our personal hygiene. It can lead to smells within our body, clothes, and hair. Smoking and secondhand smoke can cause us to age faster. Scientists out of the state of Oregon have also took note on how secondhand smoke can build up a compound that affects our blood and urine. “There is experimental evidence from nonsmokers studies where you put nonsmokers in a room, blow smoke into the room, and measure their artery function, that you see the platelets get sticky, which can cause clots and lead to a heart attack, and the ability of the arteries to dilate decreases very rapidly”, says Dr. Matthew McKenna. This cannot only harm our blood but also harm urine within the body. “Some people may say they’re not exposed to secondhand smoke, but they forget about the smokey bus ride they took in the morning or when they walked through the park and someone was smoking near them.” (Max). This compound
Smoking can negatively affect your system in just a few days, and over time, smokers rarely think about the greater dangers, such as lung cancer, skin cancer, and birth defects. Although I don't smoke, I am still aware of these dangers and try to keep myself away from situations where I am surrounded by smoke. The majority of people don't know that breathing in second-hand smoke is actually worse than smoking a cigarette. People who are constantly surrounded by smokers in places such as bars and restaurants are affected by the smoke they breathe in. While people assume that inhaling smoke straight from the cigarette is worse than secondhand smoke, they forget that the smoker has a filter that holds back some of the toxins that people around them can easily breathe in.
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“Dangers of Smoking Cigarettes for Smokers” healthliteracy.worlded.org. Copyright 1995 by Marjorie Jacobs revised 1997, n.d web 14 April 2011