Second-hand smoke is dangerous carcinogen

Every year, 434,000 people die of illnesses related to their smoking.

However, smokers are not the only ones whose health can suffer. Their tobacco smoke in the air is called environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) or secondhand smoke. Breathing it can be a hazard to your health and the health of your children.

Second-hand smoke contains smaller amounts of the same chemicals that harm smokers.

 ETS is so harmful that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has classified it as a “Group A” carcinogen. “Group A” carcinogens are the most toxic substances known to cause cancer in humans, also including benzene, radon, and asbestos.

The more often you’re around second-hand smoke, the greater your risk for health problems.

Each year it causes about 3,000 lung cancer deaths in U.S. adults who don’t smoke. Second-hand smoke increases the nonsmoker’s risk for heart disease and makes worse the symptoms of adults already suffering from asthma, allergies, or bronchitis.

Children are usually innocent victims, unable to choose whether or not to be in a smoke-filled environment.

Among infants to 18 months of age, second-hand smoke is associated with as many as 300,000 cases of bronchitis and pneumonia each year.

Second-hand smoke also increases the chances for middle ear problems, causes coughing and wheezing, and worsens asthma conditions.

Facts like these show that other people’s smoke is more than an annoyance. Second-hand smoke is a serious threat to your good health. Here are some ways you can protect the health of you and your family:

n Do not allow anyone to smoke near your child.

n Do not smoke or allow others to smoke in your home or car.

n Use a smoke-free daycare center.

n Choose restaurants and bars that are smoke-free.

Bonner General Hospital now offers monthly tobacco-cessation classes.

If you or someone you know needs help quitting cigarettes or other tobacco products, please consider attending one of these physician-directed classes.

And there’s no time like the present, so why not start today? 

The next class is scheduled for tonight, July 8, from 6-7 p.m. at the hospital. For more information or to register, please call 265-2254.

n  Lynda Metz is the director of community development at Bonner General Hospital. The information in this article is courtesy of the National Cancer Institute. For more information about the hospital’s tobacco-cessation classes, please visit www.BonnerGeneral.org.