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RSS FeedAir pollution or smoking: Which is the greater cancer risk?
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| Pollution | 57% | 51 votes | Total: 90 votes | |
| Smoking | 43% | 39 votes |
Pollution
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Add to FavoritesAir pollution or smoking: Which is the greater cancer risk?
Let me start out by saying I am no Doctor, but I would think common sense would tell any possessor of it, a rare thing in these times, That there is no way smoking could cause more damage in anyway than pollution to a non smoker. While smoking is a nasty little hard to kick habit it has been around a lot longer than the industrial age. I kindly doubt smog and all that other kind of air pollution killing people today, was around in those days.
Now I have no doubt smoking kills, but so do guns, knives, cars, planes, war, and we do not even want to go into the many diseases other than cancer that can cut life short. How much smoke comes out of a cigarette compared to an industrial smoke stack? How much comes out compared to a car exhaust? Lawnmowers, generators, chainsaws, and the list goes on and on. Just because you may not see smoke coming out of a lawnmower or any other number of things does not mean it is not polluting the air. There is a reason they tell you not to operate these devices in a air tight room, they will kill you. They all put out deadly fumes into the air. and there are a lot more pollution creating devices going on at any given time than there are people blowing smoke out into the air at any given time.
Also since today's activist whine and cry and carry on about anything they can find to whine about we should ask ourselves are we talking about cancer in the people who smoke or cancer risk to a non-smoker. I would think this question would not even be ask to a person who smokes. Lets face it the smoker knows he is at greater risk because he is breathing in the pollution and the smoke. So this brings me back to the point of the risk to non smokers.
People who smoke die of cancer as well as people who do not and never have smoked. So do a search on "cancer in the air" see how many sites you come up with verses second hand smoke sites. My bet is the pollutants in the air will far outweigh the amount of second hand smoke sites. While your at it you might want to search out how much pollution is created in making one microchip. Almost every product on the market has them. How much pollution is created when anything made of plastic is created? Look around your house, where would you be without it? How much is created in making your car and all the parts for it? How many pollution does it cause to make the power for your nice comfy house everyday? To make a single sheet of paper? the list goes on and on.
The activist should give up all theses things and more before they ask a smoker not to smoke. It is not right to ask someone to give up something they like to do while your an even bigger part of the problem. The good book tells us remove the log from your eye before you try to move the splinter from your brothers eye, and that's what the smoking issue and many other issues boil down to. The fact is the driving to a rally against cancer causing second hand smoke, will cause more damage, by getting in the car and going to the rally than a smoker would produce in a life time. So if your concerned with doing away with cancer causing things start at the top with the biggest pollutant no matter how it might affect your pleasures of life and work your way down to the smallest. By the time you get down to the smokers we are likely to be back in the stone age.
Learn more about this author, Donald Bentley.
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Smoking
Smoking tobacco gets my vote as a greater risk for cancer because of the death statistics and the human tragedy associated with this pastime. The World Health Organisation (WHO) documented that 100 million people died last year as a result of smoking related diseases. This is more than the population of Germany. The same organisation stated that air pollution is responsible for 3 million deaths yearly.
Tobacco smoking is inhaling smoke into the lungs. Inhaling smoke into the lungs is detrimental to health, no matter what the substance. Air pollution is caused by chemicals introduced into the air which are harmful or cause discomfort.
Smoking is more dangerous because all the carcinogenics found in tobacco are inhaled directly into the lungs. While the pollutants found in the atmosphere is dispersed over a greater area before they enter the lungs. Most air pollutants are found in cities where there are more factories and a greater number of vehicles. Those who live in the outskirts are less likely to be effected. The nicotine found in tobacco is highly additive. This makes it very difficult for people to stop smoking. If you smoke, it doesn't matter if you live in the city or in the suburbs. Those of us who do not smoke are not immune to the tailwind of this scourge. Second-hand smoke is also responsible for a lot of smoke-related deaths.
Most people smoke for relaxation and they also find pleasure in doing so. Some young people start smoking to look 'cool' and to socialize with their peers. Prolong and constant smoking lead to addiction. Third world countries are targeted by the big tobacco companies with ads and promotions. This is because people in the developed countries are smoking less because they are becoming more health conscious. Smoking was prevalent in the past because people did not know the health hazards associated with this pastime. It was associated with glamour and respectability because film stars like Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart were seen lighting up in their films.
Air pollution also plague the developing nations because of large populations,factorie s that belch out thick black smoke, and motor vehicles that are run on contaminated fuels. The large developing countries, like India and China problems are more complex. They have more air pollution and the population has access to cheaper cigarettes. This combination is deadly. More women are smoking in both the developed and the developing countries. This has place the health of the unborn child in jeopardy. It can cause Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or SIDS.
Smoking could be a long, hard way to commit suicide.
Learn more about this author, Hermes Roberts.
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