A cigarette does not only shorten your life by puff, but also the life of your child. The use of tobacco "remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States” causing more than 440,000 deaths each year and resulting in an annual cost of more than $75 billion in medical expenses, says David Marks in his novel, Overcoming Your Smoking Habits. Nonetheless, what is not discussed is secondhand smoke is the third leading cause of death in the United States, also known as chronic lower respiratory disease. Secondhand smoke can affect a child mentally and physically, from diseases to learning disabilities, and post-traumatic stress. Children from birth to seven years of age are especially vulnerable to secondhand smoke because their lungs are not fully developed. (Marks 3)
Secondhand Smoke (SHS) is defined as smoke from burning tobacco products, such as cigarettes, cigars, or pipes, which is also titled “sidestream” smoke. As well as, smoke that has been exhaled, or breathed out, by the person smoking titled “mainstream” smoke. Mainstream smoke is usually the central cause of most of the effects of SHS. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, There are over 7,000 chemicals in tobacco, including hundreds that are toxic and about 70 that can cause cancer. Individuals can be exposed to secondhand smoke in homes, cars, the workplace, and public places, such as bars, restaurants, and recreational settings. While children are primarily exposed to secondhand smoke within schools, public places such as playgrounds, restaurants, movie theatres, and almost always the home. (National Cancer Institute)
Half of all American children live with a person who smokes and nine million children breathe cigarette smoke frequently. Secondhand smoke is a widely known issue, but little to nothing is being done about it. By the home is one of the most primary places children are exposed to smoke, it means their own family members and loved ones are shortening their lives. Some of the effects secondhand smoke causes on children include: ear infections; more frequent and severe asthma attacks; respiratory symptoms (for example, coughing, sneezing, and shortness of breath); respiratory infections (bronchitis
In the United States one out of every four children between the ages of three and eleven, live with a smoker in their household. Imagine someone putting another person’s life in danger because of a decision they make. Think about the children who are not able to speak up for themselves when it is their own parents putting them in danger. When you place someone in a situation where they are unable to directly express how they feel, you may be creating a very perilous environment. Second hand smoke can be extremely dangerous. Second hand smoke is smoke that comes from any form of tobacco that is exhaled and later inhaled by another person nearby. Second hand smoke can put just about anyone’s life in danger.
In our generation smoking still exists even though there are some people who quit smoking and there are some still smoke in ages, however the only problem in our society, people who smoke around youngsters called as well as secondhand smoking is a detective around children and adults. It is important that secondhand smoke shouldn’t be smoking around their own children or underage due to health. Secondhand smoking, tobacco smoke is exhaled by a second smoker or is given off by burning tobacco and also is inhaled by someone nearby which it’s called passive Smoke. It occurs when tobacco smoke spread throughout any environment, which causes it 's inhalation by people within that particular environment. The state of being exposed to secondhand
According to 2006 United States' Surgeon General report, secondhand smoke is a cause for premature death and disease in children and non-smokers. In addition, children exposed to secondhand smoke are at an increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome, ear problems, acute respiratory infections, and severe asthma. Smoking by parents causes respiratory symptoms and slows lung growth in their children and to adults the secondhand smoke has immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and causes coronary heart disease and lung cancer. Finally, the Surgeon General report states, “the scientific evidence indicates that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2006).“Third hand smoke is the name given to the toxic particles from cigarette smoke that settle onto surfaces in your home and remain long after smoking has ceased” (Heidtman, 2010), which means that even if a person smokes in the house when there is no one present the particles that state on the surfaces will still harm the health of the family that resides in the house. According to the Smoking-Related Fires in Residential Buildings (2008-2010) by the US Fire Administration,
Healthy People 2020 describes some of the harmful effects caused by tobacco. Those causes outlined are cancer, heart disease and stroke, lung diseases, reproductive effects, and many other diseases. (2017) These harmful effects are direct to the smoker but are also harmful secondhand to those who because subjected to the smoke. Children are especially exposed to secondhand smoke as they have limited control in escaping from it. Diseased commonly caused and also discussed in Healthy People 2020 are “severe asthma attacks, respiratory infections, ear infections, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)” (2017) The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services posted an article with the Surgeon General, titled, The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress.; outlined in
It is now known that secondhand smoke (SHS) is more toxic than firsthand smoke (FHS), posing a serious health risk to children who have no control over whether they are exposed or not. Additionally, a new potential health risk has been discovered: thirdhand exposure (THE). Thirdhand exposure occurs when nicotine and other chemicals from secondhand smoke deposit on surfaces, such as floors, walls, and tables. THE exists wherever nicotine has been smoked, creating multiple exposure routes and exposing people via. touch, ingestion, and inhalation2. Evidence has emerged showing that THE potentially poses similar health risks as SHS, but the public is skeptical about these
Cigarettes not only cause illness to cigarette smokers but innocent bystanders as well. There have been numerous studies that indicate secondhand smoke can be just as harmful, if not more, that that of direct cigarette smoke. This means that when a toddler plays near his parent who is a smoker, the child is exposed to the fumes and reaps the detrimental
To begin, exposure to passive smoke as a child harms the function of the respiratory system by causing illnesses to develop in the lungs during childhood. Children who were exposed to passive smoke are highly prone to develop respiratory illnesses. For instance, asthma is one of the most common illness caused by exposure to passive smoke. Studies show that there is an increased risk of asthma in children associated with maternal passive smoke exposure by 20% to 85% (Burke et al, 2012). Through these statistics, we can quantitatively show how harmful exposure of particles from tobacco smoke is to the lungs of children and the possibility of developing asthma at childhood from passive exposure through the mother. Asthma is a respiratory condition resulting from particles in the bronchi of the lungs leading to breathing difficulty, whereby causing an inflammation of the air passages in the lungs due to particles affecting sensitivity of nerve endings (Asthma Society of Canada, 2015.) Particles such as nicotine from tobacco affect the sensitivity of the nerve ending in the airway leading to irritability resulting in buildup of mucus in airway. These particles easily pass through our passage way ,because they damage the mucus lining, so they are not easily blocked, which is why they enter into the lungs causing irritation triggering an asthma attack. While examining 133,800 to 161,600 asthma related cases, it was found that children during early childhood from two months to five
The effects of secondhand smoke on children, more frequent ear infections, more frequent and severe asthma attacks, respiratory symptoms, respiratory infections, and they are at a greater risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The effects
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
Tobacco is one of the prominent sources known to trigger cancer, respiratory, cardiovascular diseases and death internationally. Involuntary exposure to a combination of cigarette smoke and the exhaled smoke from smokers is considered as Second-hand smoke (SHS), which is inhaled by everyone and is also responsible to cause harmful effects on health. Tobacco smoke constitutes thousands of toxic chemicals, even though it is a known fact that some of these toxic chemicals can cause cancer, people smoke anyway. Exposure to second-hand smoke is a major concern in public places and at home since it can cause various health issues in infants, children, and adults.
Do you really want to start smoking it doesn't just harm you but it also hurts others. One cigarette contains 70 chemicals known to cause cancer, Cancer is very serious it's about life and death 30% of cancers could be prevented if they hadn’t picked up their first cigarette.Tobacco is known to cause many other diseases such as lung disease and heart disease, A heart attack is 400% more likely to happen to smokers than non smokers since it increases your heart rate.You're also hurting the people around you secondhand smoke is just as harmful as being the smoker. Exposure to secondhand smoke kills 600,000 people each year think about your friends and family and all the other families who have had their loved ones pass away. Now you know Smoking
Secondhand smoking causes many defects for children as they grow up. As parents of young children smoke in the car, these children are exposed to this secondhand smoke frequently. According to Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "Secondhand smoke causes numerous health problems in infants and children, including more frequent and severe asthma attacks, respiratory infections, ear infection, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)." As these children group up, the health problems resulting from the secondhand smoke exposure affects their lifestyle and future.
According to the National Cancer Institute, about 250 chemicals in secondhand smoke, of the 7,000, are known to be harmful and seventy of them can cause cancer (Johnson). “The study of 11 moderately dependent cigarette smokers and 13 nonsmokers found 1 hour of secondhand smoke in an enclosed space resulted in nicotine reaching the brain, in smokers and nonsmokers alike, to bind nicotinic acetylcholine receptors that are normally targeted by direct exposure to tobacco smoke. Secondhand smoke also evoked cravings among the smokers, suggesting that it may deliver a priming dose of nicotine to the brain that contributes to continued cigarette use in smokers” (Hampton). These are just some of the effects of secondhand smoke, the list goes on. It is made clear simply from the list I have compiled that secondhand smoke it just as bad as smoking itself and it is understandable for someone to want to ban cigarettes. The child who died from secondhand smoke did not choose to smoke nor inhale it from his or her parents, along with thousands of other people who die due to exposure to secondhand smoke.
“In the United States alone second-hand smoke, SHS, kills over 400 infants and 41,000 non-smokers each year according to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention. CDCP
Because of secondhand smoke, about 3,000 adults who do not smoke die of lung cancer each year. Research even proves that secondhand smoke possibly heightens the chances of breast cancer, nasal sinus cavity cancer, and nasopharyngeal cancer in grownups [National Cancer Institute]. Also, the chances of leukemia, lymphoma, and brain tumors in adolescents are heightened. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. National Toxicology Program, the U.S. Surgeon General, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer have all classifies secondhand smoke as a known human carcinogen. Carcinogens are the causes of cancer. Adolescents subject to secondhand smoke have also have heightened chances of sudden infant death syndrome, ear infections, colds, pneumonia, bronchitis, and extreme asthma [National Institutes of Health]. Besides those health effects, another concerning matter of secondhand smoke is heart disease. The American Heart Associations prove that although most people believe that smoking only affects your lungs, being subject to secondhand smoke practically doubled the chances of a heart attack. “Short exposures to secondhand smoke can cause blood platelets to become stickier, damages the lining of blood vessels, and decrease coronary flow velocity reserves. These are all mechanisms that may increase the risk of a heart attack” [American Heart Association]. People who do not smoke and are around smoke at home or at work heighten