Second-Hand Smoke

Every year, there are over 400,000 smoking-related deaths in the United States. A large percentage of these are due to lung cancer, whose leading cause is smoking. However, not all deaths are smokers themselves. Anyone in the vicinity can fall victim to second hand smoke. These people, through no action of their own, can have their lives threatened.

With over 300 million smokers around the globe it begs the question how is their choice to smoke cigarettes affecting not only themselves in the short run but also overall. Short term effects include frequent cough, colds, bronchitis, as well as pneumonia. The long-term effects are much grimmer than the short term. Long term effects include but not limited to cancer of the throat, lung, and mouth. Smoking also increases the chances of stomach, kidney, and pancreas. Women who smoke while pregnant increase the risks of the unborn baby such as premature

Tobacco use and the effects of second hand smoke have been an ongoing issue for many years. Looking at the attitude of the 1950’s and 1960’s when smoking was thought of as cool, suave, mature, etc., there has been a major turnaround in the way society looks at the use of tobacco. Now the issue is not just smoking and the damage to health that it causes, but now there is the additional awareness of what second hand smoke can do to individuals.

One of America’s leading cause of death is smoking. Smoking has been around for years and doesn’t look like it’s going away anytime soon. The effects of smoking harms about every organ in the body, for example: the heart, blood vessels, lungs, eyes, mouth, reproductive organs, bones, bladder, and digestive organs. Smokers use that “it’s my body, I do what I want,” The problem with that is smoking doesn’t just affect the person doing it. It harms other people in the ways; it’s called 2nd hand smoking. People who receive second hand smoking are possible to get a disease as a person who smokes regularly. It might not be as serve but will still be not good. Most people are trying to quit but aren’t trying hard enough without motivation. Smoking is one of the most common causes of death however quitting now will decrease your chances of disease and death.

Every day in America families’ gathers together to celebrate special events or the accomplishments of one of its members. Many times these special moments can be ruined or brought to an abrupt end due to others nearby smoking. Public spaces should be safe and accessible to all members of society to use without the inconvenience of someone else’s smoking ruining their outing or causing health issues to flare up such as, asthma. People do have the right to choose to smoke if they desire, but nonsmokers have the right to go out to public places with their family and not be exposed to harmful secondhand smoke. Studies have shown that secondhand smoke is just as harmful as smoking and leads to a higher occurrence of cancer and heart disease. Furthermore,

While smoking causes many diseases in the heart it also affects the lungs. Every time someone lights up a cigarette they’re increasing their probability of procuring pneumonia, emphysema, lungs cancer, or chronic bronchitis pulmonary disease (COPD). Sadly Eighty-four percent of lung cancer deaths are smokers and eighty-three percent of COPD

smokers may not realize how secondhand smoke is very dangerous and life threatening. Although the person may not be the one actually smoking their still inhaling the smoke which is what second hand smoke is. It is something that in most cases for younger children are unintentionally, but happens anyway. Since second hand smoke is a known cancer causing agent the more secondhand smokers the higher the risks for more health issues. Not only does smoking affect the main stream, but the side stream as well which the both of them are slowly wearing their lungs and other body parts down.

Many people think that smoking is a sign of coolness but in fact it damages the body. Cigarettes contain nicotine which is an addictive substance and that is why it is hard for smokers to stop smoking. Smoking can damage the

Growing up in an era where smoking was considered cool amongst the young, I never gave much thought to the long-term effect cigarette smoking would have on the lungs. Recently the issue of COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) has become a very serious health issue, the American Cancer Society has produced commercials advising against smoking. However, it’s not only smokers who suffer with breathing difficulties, but also those who are near them. One of the highest cause of emphysema is second hand smoke, much of the people affected are those who worked or lived with smokers. According to the Surgeon General between 1964 and 2014, 2.5 million people died from second hand smoke. Chemicals such as formaldehyde, benzene, vinyl chloride, arsenic ammonia and hydrogen cyanide are but a few of the toxic chemicals contained in second hand smoke. These chemicals have caused individuals to develop asthma, COPD and lung cancer.

Millions of people are smokers in the United States. “In 2011, an estimated 19.0% (43.8) million United States adults were current cigarette smokers” (“Cigarette Smoking in the”). This number does not include all the underage smokers that are unaccounted. Cigarette smoking has very serious and fatal side effects. Some of these side effects include asthma, cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke, COPD, and Buerger’s disease. Tobacco use is a preventable death sentence. Smokers are not only harming themselves but the people around them breathing the second-hand smoke. “Each year, about 46,000 nonsmokers in the United States die from heart disease caused by second-hand smoke” (“Cigarette Smoking in the”). This number is

When considering the effects of secondhand smoke, it is important to remember it is linked to many negative health consequences. Breathing in even small amounts of secondhand smoke is harmful to one’s body. The only way to ensure the safety of nonsmokers from the dangers of secondhand smoke is to provide a smoke free environment. Secondhand smoke compromises cardiac and lung health of innocent nonsmokers and increases the probability of many

Why is secondhand smoke a problem? Today people do not know all the CONSEQUENCES of smoking. Tobacco companies will continue creating products at all costs, as this is summed up in the word income (profit), they know the damage it does but still in same. Secondhand smoke has the same harmful chemicals that smokers inhale. There’s no safe level of exposure for secondhand smoke. Today there are many theories that secondhand smoke could eventually get cancer without having smoked in your life. The second hand smoke do not realize the potential harm when the air passing when inhaling.

Coughing, wheezing, and faint cries of an infant; all are sounds of children affected by their parents’ terrible habit: smoking. Secondhand smoke affects everyone nearby, everyone breathes in those horrible chemicals found in cigarettes. What a smoker does to themselves is a personal matter, but what they do to a non-smoker is different. New laws in Texas can help protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke, as well as the harmful effects it causes. Secondhand smoke has many classifications, a well known term being Environmental Tobacco Smoke or ETS. There are two compounds of secondhand smoke; one is side-stream smoke. Side-stream smoke or SS smoke is the smoke coming from the lighted end of a cigarette. The second is mainstream smoke. Mainstream smoke is the smoke which is exhaled by the smoker. Side-stream smoke is the more harmful of the two because of the high level of carcinogens it contains. Carcinogens are known to be the cancer causing agent in humans. Side-stream smoke also has smaller particles than its counterpart, making a bystanders lungs and cells easy access for the smoke to enter. The more of this smoke, we breathe, the more harmful chemicals enter our body. Passive or involuntary smoking is when a non-smoker is exposed to secondhand smoke. A smoker and non-smoker take the smoke in through the same path (“Secondhand Smoke”). As we continue to find out more about the risks of secondhand smoke restrictions in public places is becoming more accepted in the United

Secondhand smoke exposure has negative health consequences. One health consequence is that secondhand smoke exposure can lead to disease and premature death. Another health consequence of secondhand smoke exposure causes illness in women, infants, and children such as “low-birth weight, premature labor, SIDS, asthma, respiratory illness, physical and behavioral problems” (Corbin, Welk, Corbin & Welk, 2016). Furthermore, secondhand smoke exposure also negatively impacts one’s mental health by fostering addictive and depressive behaviors. Therefore, reducing or eliminating one’s exposure to secondhand exposure can increase one’s overall health and life expectancy.

The writer acknowledges those who do smoke by expressing the fact that is their right to choose to damage their health by smoking. However, the writer reiterates throughout the essay that a smoker’s right to choose is overridden by the potential to infringe on other’s health and well-being.