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i I 1 ~ w~w- I ' ~ I 1 1 , ' ' I I I 1 ' I ~ I1 How Secondhand Smoke Kills , hen secondhand smoke enters the ~ ~ ' air and you inhale its dirty cloud, ~ ~ _•ti_, _ ~I [he same thing happens in your ' - r~; ^t ^~t; - body that happens m the body of a ~ I I ' ' smoker: Nicotine and cancer- - "1 ' _ 1 _ causing tars are deposited in your mouth, t" ' - ' ' throat, and lungs. Your blood picks up the poi- \ ~ ~ - ~ ` ~ sons from your lungs and transports them , ~ (:e-. ~ ' - ' ~ throughout your body. ~ / ,t t„ The Environmental Protection Agency esti- ~ ~ ~ ~`l / ~ ~ \II mates [ha[ secondhand smoke causes about ~ ` _ 3,000 deaths per year from lung cancer alone. I I_ I I ~ ~ That's far higher than the number of deaths ~ ~ J~Uk t ~ ~ _ ~ i caused by almost any other kind of exposure \ ' 1 1 _ ~ to toxic substances-more, for example, than - ~ the number of cancers caused by intense I I \ ~1. / - - ~ /I chemical exposure found among workers in ' ~ 1 a ~ chemical plants who are exposed to those tox- ~1 0) ~ ; - 30~, ?41. U0~ I ins every day. V i ~ -Y`! ~0 Y O The more smoke you aze regularly exposed [o over the years, [he greater your risk. For example, being most hazazdous substances settle. In addition, smokers suf- . married to atwo-pack-a-day smoker for 20 years increases fer from [he effects of both the filtered smoke [hey breathe your risk of getting lung cancer by about 35 percent. Expo- in, and the secondhand smoke that surrounds them. ~ e sure for 40 years makes the risk 80 percent higher than for But nonsmokers are still clearly a[ risk. "You needn't 4 those who live with nonsmokers. For those exposed as chil- even be in the same room with a smoker to inhale substan- dren, then later as adults, the risk doubles-to 160 percent. tial amounts of tobacco smoke;' says Michael Siegel, M.D., So why don'[ nonsmokers get sick as often as smokers? an expert on secondhand smoke a[ [he Boston University To some degree, nonsmokers aze protected by the air, School of Public Health. It takes from several hours to a which dilutes the smoke, and by the surfaces around them- full day to clear the air of chemicals in a room in which furniture, clothing, drapes, and windows-on which the someone has smoked. And rooms that have been repeatedly ~ 1 exposed to smoke can have deposits of the tarry substances ~I YYlla+~s ~ the from cigarettes on the furniture, drapes, and walls, which ' L can continue to give off small amounts of toxic substances I ~ Ik:re, llte BmDlm[ 01 mslns h`etll n[te e~arette that a milker for days or weeks. Researchers generally consider these i ~ hreatttes h through a fl1let'sd tlp tteraus the atltetaft Dt tnsk[s odors [o be unpleasant rather than dangerous; however, [hey rebased (rth the alr otI llta end M the lama GQaretta. are strong enough for those with sensitive noses to instantly tell a "smoking" from a "nonsmoking" hotel room. ' To date, [here are several hundred studies of the effects m ~ ~ of secondhand smoke, and they demoris[ra[e a vaziety of . ' health risks-not only for lung cancer, but also for cancers ' Ni~o88mines ~ ~of the urinary system, colon, kid- 1 ' " ' neys, pancreas, and ovaries. BelQelle Among [he other risks [o nonsmokers . . - who inhale substantial amounts of smoke a[ home, work, or ' ~8IkI1~1lm ~ regular social situations: _ •More than 50,000 deaths per year from hear and artery disease aze brought on by exposure to secondhand smoke. I[ Be1QDpyt'elle also causes other heart and blood-system problems in other ways, since blood cells will carry [he carbon monoxide from the smoke to all the cells in the body, sig- „ .I ~ ~ nificantly reducing amounts of oxygen flow to . FO~OtdUlll ~ the brain and other organs. •Scientists believe that many of [he other illnesses that smokers get from cigarette smoke will probably also show up in nonsmokers exposed to substantial amounts of Nhrosamhres: fhlrxp9e[[k CeugolaWs secondhand smoke. Reseazchers have already demonstrated ' gam; Pe~ah aapQ p ~ setyatt( that the risk of developing respiratory ailments such as Cadltdtn[L' Trade metal bronchitis and pneumonia is particularly high. "We're not Bet¢apyret[e: Catrbageu hand b pasorte a[rl road tar near a full list of what the problems aze; 'says Jonathan AnlWte: Polsonot[s sutata[tce used to dys Samet, M.D., professor and chairman of the department of Peb[dum: eadku[eWe metal epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of i 1 Public Health. "The science continues [o evolve." -P.J.H. ' _ - gooJhautekeeprn;{llwember 1996 171 i