Passive Smoking

Passive smoking means that the passive smokers, or non-smokers, are breathing in either the smoke from the burning end of the active smoker's cigarette or the smoke expelled by the active smoker. Passive smoking is also called involuntary or secondhand smoking. If you are in a smoke filled room for 1 hour with smokers, it is equal to smoking 10 cigarettes. there are many types of cancers that can come from secondhand smoke. Out of all of the lung cancer deaths reported, nearly 40% of them were from smoking and secondhand smoke. Smoking the cigarette you are getting the filtered smoke, but secondhand smoke you are getting the "side stream" and "mainstream" smoke. this means you are breathing in what the smoker is exhaling out, and what is burning off the cigarette.

Many smokers will argue that smoking is their right and they can do whatever the please with their bodies. They do not realize that smoking affects even those around them. Research has indicated that passive smoking, or secondhand smoking, can also have serious effects on an individual's health. The health effects of passive smoking are as serious and debilitating as smoking itself.

Passive smoking is most common in public venues, but may also occur in private residences. One of the most common place a non-smoker will experience passive smoking is in bars and restaurants. Many people associate drinking and eating with smoking and as a result, many people smoke while they are at the bar or restaurant. Research has also shown that peop le, who drink and smoke at the same time, end up smoking more than if drinking were not involved. Nearly all restaurants have no smoking sections, however they are usually not smoke free as that section shares common spaces and circulating air with the smoking section. Recently a number of localities have banned smoking in restaurants and bars.

Another common place where non-smokers may encounter passive smoke is at sporting events, concerts, and social gatherings where drink and food are served. Some establishments have set up certain smoking sections, leaving the rest of the venue smoke free. Additionally, many of these venues fall under the municipality bans on smoking.

Many municipalities also have smoking bans that affect the workplace. This makes nearly all workplaces smoke free, with few exceptions. Several states have also banned outdoor smoking, having strict rules regarding where smokers can and cannot smoke. Nearly all school zones, playgrounds, and government offices are all smoke free. Likewise, smoking is banned on most public transportation systems.

Many non-smokers are also exposed to a large amount of passive smoke in their own homes, or in the homes of family and friends. Smoke can linger in the air for hours, especially in enclosed spaces. Furthermore, children, specifically infants and toddlers are exposed to smoke residues even when the smoker goes outside, because it stays on the clothes and skin of those that smoke.
Children are often passive smokers and receive health injuries that they would not have had if their parents did not smoke. Even a small amount of secondhand smoke can affect babies, children, and others. When active smokers smoke in the home, but try to smoke near an open window, some smoke still remains in the home. Children who end up being passive smokers have been shown to have an increased risk of getting cancer later in life as well as asthma and respiratory infections.

Passive smoking is unhealthy for everyone and while active smokers choose to smoke, passive smokers do not. Passive smoke is especially bad for those with asthma, but it is unhealthy for all people as well as animals. Symptoms of passive smoking include headache, sore throat and eye irritation. Dizziness, coughing, and nausea may also occur.

Mainstream smoke refers to the smoke that enters the smoker's body and is not exhaled. The smoke that enters the smoker's body and is then exhaled differs chemically since the smoke interacts with the tissues in the smoker's body before being exhaled. Mainstream passive smoking occurs when the non-smoker breaths in smoke exhaled by the smoker. This type of smoke is harmful, but side stream passive smoking has been shown to be even more harmful.

Side stream passive smoking refers to the non-smoker breathing in smoke from the burning end of the smoker's cigarette. Most of the smoke in a room will be of the side stream type, which has a higher concentration of chemicals than the exhaled main stream type of smoke.
It is known that repeated exposure to secondhand smoke can increase a person's risk for cancer, and now a new study in mice helps explain why. Secondhand smoke seems to stimulate tumor growth and angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels in tumors, according to Dr. Stanton A. Glantz of the University of California at San Francisco and his colleagues. This is a concern because the abnormal formation of new blood vessels is believed to encourage cancer growth by giving small tumors the blood supply they need to thrive and spread. "One of the really important things that has to happen for a tumor to grow is you have to have blood vessels grow in to supply blood to the tumor," Glantz told Reuters Health.

In his team's study of mice with a lung cancer-like condition, secondhand smoke seemed to stimulate angiogenesis and tumor growth. In other words, Glantz said, "the cancer-causing chemicals in the smoke not only initiate the (tumor formation) process, but other things in the smoke facilitate the growth of the tumor." The findings were presented this week at the 52nd annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology, held in Chicago. Previous research indicates that people exposed to secondhand smoke face an increased risk of lung cancer and death from cardiovascular disease. Secondhand smoke has also been linked to a number of respiratory health problems, including pneumonia and impaired lung function in children, and asthma in both children and adults.

In the current study, three groups of mice had lung cancer cells implanted in their lungs and were exposed to smoke from four cigarettes every 15 minutes for six hours each day. After six days, the researchers say, mice exposed only to secondhand smoke showed "excessive tumor growth." However, tumor growth and tumor angiogenesis were lower in a comparison group of mice that were exposed to secondhand smoke and then given mecamylamine, a so-called nicotine-blocker. This suggests that although nicotine plays a role in speeding up angiogenesis, it does not act alone, according to Glantz. "Even when you blocked it, you still got an effect," he said. "I just never realized that secondhand smoke had such a strong effect on angiogenesis," Glantz added, noting that scientists are currently investigating how to prevent this vessel-forming process in cancer. "If you block angiogenesis in tumors, you could kill the tumor," he said, "so the secondhand smoke is having effects which are just the opposite of the therapeutic interventions people are trying to develop."