Truth About Second Hand Smoke
The Truth About Second Hand Smoke We all know that cigarettes are a health hazard to those who smoke them. However, some smokers may not know about the dangers they cause for the people around them. Every day at least ninety-five percent of American people suffer from (ETS) Environmental Tobacco Smoke, or commonly known as second-hand smoke(CITE). Passive, involuntary, secondary, and second-hand smoking, are all terms that refer to nonsmokers who are forced to breathe in smoke from people smoking around them. Second-hand smoke is a mixture of smoke exhaled by smokers and the smoke that comes from the burning ends of cigarettes, cigars and pipes. Tobacco products produce two types of smoke, mainstream and side stream (CITE). Mainstream smoke is the smoke that smokers inhale into their lungs. Side stream smoke is the smoke that is exhaled by the smoker. This smoke contains about 4,000 substances in which about fifty percent of these toxic substances can cause cancer and other bodily problems (CITE). ... Two of the most hazardous of the chemicals found in second-hand smoke - tar and carbon monoxide - are not even present in an unburned phase of a tobacco product, but rather are produced when puffs are taken (Mendelson 37-38). While some smokers ignore the dangers involved with tobacco smoke, many nonsmokers are struggling to live another day. The average smoker inhales about ten two-second puffs of mainstream smoke from the tobacco product he is smoking. As the cigarette sits, it releases waves of side stream smoke into the air (CITE). According to some scientists, side stream smoke is even more dangerous than mainstream smoke. In a recent article by the Iowa Medical Society it states that side stream 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 (CITE). To better understand the dangers of second-hand smoke, all terms must be understood by the reader.