SURGEON GENERALS WARNING Environmental Tobacco Smoke Causes Lung Canc Essay Example For Students

SURGEON GENERALS WARNING: Environmental Tobacco Smoke Causes Lung Canc Essay SURGEON GENERALS WARNING: Environmental Tobacco Smoke Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, And May Complicate Pregnancy. Did you know that most people are at the risk of dying from just breathing the air around them? Every day at least ninety-five percent of American people suffer from (E.T.S.) Environmental Tobacco Smoke, or more commonly known as second hand smoke. For those that are not familiar with what second hand smoke is let me explain it to you. Second hand smoke is a mixture of the smoke exhaled by smokers and the smoke that comes from the burning ends of cigarettes, cigars, and pipes. This smoke contains about 4,000 substances in which about fifty percent of these toxic substances can cause cancer and other bodily problems. Environmental Tobacco Smoke has been a problem for many years, but through intense research from many physicians, non-smokers are finally getting the respect they deserve. Smokers now have to smoke outside of public places. While some non-smokers ignore the dangers involved with tobacco smoke others are struggling to live another day. Environmental Tobacco Smoke is made up of both a gas phase and a particulate phase. Together they include more than 4,000 substances. Automatic tobacco-puffing machines have been invented to collect and to study the smoke. In recent years studies have shown us the most hazardous of these chemicals. Tar is considered the deadliest of all the substances. Other chemicals found in tobacco smoke that are hazardous to us are carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, carboxyhemoglobin, and nicotine (Mendelson and Mello 33-35). During the burning process of tobacco the tip of the burning cone (the center of the pipe, cigarette, and or cigar) reaches a temperature of nearly 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit during a puff. This tiny blast furnace results in a miniature chemical plant, which uses the hundreds of available materials to produce many more. In fact, some of the most important part of tobacco smoke (including tar and carbon monoxide) are not even present in an unburned phase of a tobacco product, but rather are produced when a puff is taken (Mendelson and Mello 37-38). Other studies have shown that indoor environmental tobacco smoke changes the tobacco substance in the gas phase. As tobacco smoke is discharged into an indoor environment, diluted, re-circulated within and vented from the indoor environment, changes occur in both its chemical makeup phases. Making the gas phase substance more harmful than being in a outdoor environment (Ecobichon and Wu 3-4). Tobacco products produce two kinds of smoke, mainstream and sidestream. Mainstream smoke is the smoke that smokers inhale into their lungs. Sidestream smoke is the smoke that is exhaled by the smoker. The average smoker inhales ten two-second puffs of mainstream smoke from the tobacco product they are smoking. As the cigarette, pipe, or cigar sits it releases waves of sidestream smoke into the air. According to some scientists, sidestream smoke is even more dangerous than mainstream smoke. In a recent article produced by the Iowa Medical Society it states that sidestream smoke contains five times the carbon monoxide, three times the tar and nicotine, and up to fifty times the number of carcinogens found in mainstream smoke. A study reported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences confirms that second-hand smoke contains up to fifty times more carcinogens (Ling et al. 92). Carcinogens are described in the Websters dictionary as being a substance that produces a mali gnant tumor, or cancer in a living cell (Landoll et al. 71). In todays society people are aware that tobacco smoke is unhealthy, but most choose not to become concerned with what this chemical does to their bodies. With the amount of smokers in todays society, Environmental Tobacco Smoke has diluted are air with thousands of chemicals that causes severe damage to both our inner and exterior body components. Doctor Ameron of Atlanta Georgia writes that six out of ten non-smokers will end up with reduced lung functioning and or upper or lower respiratory problems. According to Ameron, secondhand smoke is even more dangerous than mainstream smoke. He also states that breathing tobacco smoke can aggravate the condition of people with allergies or with lung, heart, or respiratory problems. Sufferers with chronic bronchitis and emphysema, for instance, are made extremely uncomfortable by severe air pollution. Yet the levels of carbon monoxide and other pollutants in smoke-filled rooms may be as high or higher than those that occur during air polluti on emergencies (Berger 81-87). According to a Health Advocate Magazine, research from different physicians show that Environmental Tobacco Smoke can cause severe heart conditions, and assorted respiratory problems by being exposed to the smoke for a period of time. Even perfectly healthy people are affected by second-hand smoke. Their heart rate, blood pressure, and the level of carbon monoxide in the blood increase when they breathe in air full of tobacco smoke. Also, even after nonsmokers leave a smoky room, it takes hours for the carbon monoxide to leave their bodies. Unlike oxygen, which is breathed in and then out again in minutes, carbon monoxide remains in the blood for long periods of time (Smith 27-29). a journal on of mice and men EssayA recently published study in the New England Journal of Medicine showed reduced lung functioning in children whose mother smoke cigarettes. There is also evidence that once lung disease begins in childhood, it can continue and even worsen over a lifetime. Other Scientific discoveries show that sixty-five percent of children that live with parents who smoke have chronic learning disabilities, and abnormal growth patterns. Researchers have recognized such problems as these to be a leading cause of depression amongst teens; leading to suicide (Lebowitz 171-172). In this research I have discussed the make up of environmental tobacco Smoke and the damages it can cause to non-smoking adults and children. It is clear that this deadly chemical is unhealthy to our everyday lives. Second-hand smoke is harmful to our society, and will continue to be unless we as people take a stand for our children and ourselves. Do not let this hazardous material control your life. Avoid all types of tobacco smoke to assure a healthy life for you and your families. This is one major step in making our world a healthier place to live. BibliographyWorks CitedBender, David et. al. Smoking: Current Controversies. Bender David. San Diego California. September 23, 1995. 362.29. Berger, Gilda. Smoking Not Allowed: The Debate. Business Week. Office Smokers Feel the Heat, November 29, 1982. Daily News. Smoking Bill Clouds the Issue, March 26, 1986. Journal of the American Medical Association. Nonsmokers Rights, May 19, 1978. Journal of the Israel Medical Association. Passive Smoking, April 1, 1981. 362.29. Cain, W. et. al. Environmental Tobacco Smoke: Sensory Reactions of Occupants. Atmospheric Environment. Massachusetts. July 03,. 1988. 347.35. Ecobichon, Donald and Wu, Joseph. 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