by G.L.F. Gammey

Created on: May 28, 2008

About Secondhand Smoke

Secondhand smoke, also known as passive or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), is produced by the smoke emitted from the burning tip of a cigarette, pipe, or cigar and the smoke that is exhaled from the smoker's lungs. The smoke coming from the tip of the smoking device is called sidestream smoke while the smoke that is exhaled from the smoker's lungs is known as mainstream smoke. It is estimated that the amount of smoke that is actually inhaled by the smoker is only 15%. The other 85% of the smoke lingers in the air for any one in close proximity to breathe. According to this estimate, if a nonsmoker remains in a room with a smoker for more than two hours, the nonsmoker will have inhaled the equivalent of four cigarettes. Secondhand smoke is the third leading preventable cause of disability and premature death, falling behind active smoking and alcohol. Secondhand smoke contains more than 4,000 chemical compounds with 250 of them being toxic and more than 50 of them having the capacity to cause cancer.

Secondhand Smoke Risks

Exposure to secondhand smoke can cause diseases, premature death, lung cancer, heart disease, lower respiratory tract infections, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and the aggravation of asthmatic symptoms.

Most of the research conducted supports the overall consensus that secondhand smoke increases the risks for diseases such as cancer, heart disease, breathing ailments, and low birth weight. According to the CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, secondhand smoke increases the risk of becoming victim to heart disease by 25-30% and lung cancer by 20-30%.

Lung Cancer

There are two major types of lung cancer, which are non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer. The more common of the two is non-small cell lung cancer, usually spreading to different parts of the body at a slower pace than small cell lung cancer. Small cell cancer accounts for about 20% of all lung cancer cases.

Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in men, falling behind prostate cancer and in women, falling behind breast cancer, accounting for about 15% of all new cancers. During 2008, it is estimated that there will be an additional 215,020 cancer victims; of these 114,690 will be male victims and 100,330 will be female victims.

Lung cancer occurs mainly in the elderly with the average age at the time of diagnoses being 70. Two out of every third person diagnosed with lung cancer are older than 65; less than 3% of lung cancer

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