Marquette
County
Tobacco Prevention Program
Smoke-free
Air Campaign
It is firmly established by rigorous
scientific research that secondhand smoke from cigarettes and other tobacco
products creates substantial health risks for exposed nonsmokers, especially
children, and actually kills thousands of people each year.
The Marquette County Health Department has an obligation to inform the
public about health risks and what can be done to reduce those risks.
-
The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concludes that exposure
to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) – commonly known as secondhand smoke – is responsible for approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths each year in
nonsmoking adults and impairs the respiratory health of hundreds of
thousands of children. (Source:
Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking:
Lung Cancer & Other Disorders.
U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency, Office of Research and Development, December 1992)
-
Studies
rank secondhand smoke as the third leading cause of preventable death in the
United States
, after active smoking and alcohol use, with an estimated 53,000 deaths
annually.
(Source:
Glantz
,
S.A.
& Parmley, W. (1991). American Heart Association Circulation, 83:
1-12;
Taylor
, A., Johnson, D. & Kazemi, H. (1992).
American Heart Association
Circulation, pp. 699-702; Glantz et al.
(1995). Journal of American Medicine, 273, 13:
1047-1053) Heart
disease accounts for about 37,000 of the estimated 53,000 annual deaths attributed
to involuntary smoking in the United States. (Glantz
SA, Parmley WW. Passive Smoking and Heart Disease: Epidemiology, Physiology,
and Biochemistry Circulation,1991;83:1-12)
-
Simple
separation of smokers and nonsmokers within the same airspace does not
eliminate exposure of nonsmokers to ETS.
(Surgeon
General Report, 1986).
-
The
Environmental Protection Agency report classified
secondhand smoke as a Group A carcinogen – a substance known to cause
cancer in humans. There is no
safe level of exposure for Group A toxins.
The Group A designation has been used by EPA for only 15 other
pollutants, including asbestos, radon, and benzene. (Source:
Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking:
Lung Cancer & Other Disorders.
U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development,
December 1992).
-
Workers exposed to
secondhand smoke are 34% more likely to get lung cancer.
(Source:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
-
Secondhand
smoke is especially harmful to children.
ETS exposure increases the risk of lower respiratory tract infections
such as bronchitis and pneumonia.
EPA estimates between 150,000 and 300,000 of these cases annually in
infants and young children up to 18 months of age are attributable to
exposure to ETS. Of these,
between 7,500 and 15,000 will result in hospitalization. (Source:
Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking:
Lung Cancer & Other Disorders.
U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development,
December 1992)
-
ETS
exposure increases the frequency of episodes and severity of symptoms in
asthmatic children.
The report estimates that 200,000 to 1,000,000 asthmatic children
have their condition worsened by exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.
ETS exposure is a risk factor for new cases of asthma in children who
have not previously displayed symptoms. (Source:
Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking:
Lung Cancer & Other Disorders.
U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development,
December 1992)
-
Chemicals
present in secondhand smoke include cancer causing substances such as
benzene-found in gasoline, lead-car batteries, arsenic-poison,
cadmium-rechargeable batteries as well as other harmful toxins such as
formaldehyde-body preservative, ammonia-toilet bowl cleaner, and acetone-
nail polish remover.
(Source
Health Effects of Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke: Final Report,
Sacramento: California Environmental Protection Agency, September 1997)
-
Michigan
provides fewer smokefree workplaces than almost any other state, ranking
47th out of 51.
(Source:
National Cancer Institute study published in the Journal of Occupational and
Environmental Medicine, August, 2001).
Phone:
906-475-7848, Ext. 281
Email: jharrington@mqtcty.org