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SMOKING IS A THREAT FOR EVERYONE

One of the most common and unhealthy habits of the 20th and early 21st centuries is SMOKING . According to the World Health Organization, more than half of the male and a quarter of the female population of the planet is infected.

Over the entire previous century, about 100 million people died from smoking-related diseases. Nowadays, over 4 million die every year for the same reason, and in Belarus more than 15.5 thousand people. And if drastic measures are not taken, then by 2020 tobacco will cause the annual death of 10 million people worldwide.

But statistics do not take into account the number of so-called "passive smokers" , or rather "hostages" smokers. At least 90% non-smoking citizens – children, teenagers and adults – against their will, find themselves daily captive in smoky air contaminated with waste from unburnt tobacco. And from this they suffer no less, and maybe even more, than the smoker himself.

WHAT IS SMOKING?

According to the Big Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language, "smoking is the process of burning a substance (crushed tobacco leaves – ed.) to produce aromatic smoke" .

The so-called “aromatic” smoke is nothing more than a hot mixture of harmful gases, vapors, liquids and solids resulting from the combustion of the contents of a cigarette (cigars, cigarettes, etc.).

The chemical composition of tobacco smoke is very complex. Depending on the quality, grade and composition of tobacco, it is divided into:

• 1200 components,

• of which over 40 are carcinogenic, i.e. causing various malignant tumors.

WHAT IS TOBACCO SMOKE

A lit cigarette during its “short life” is a source of:

1. the main (main) stream – which smokers enjoy;

2. side (collateral) smoke flow – which affects others who are forced to passively smoke and inhale harmful substances.

The smoke of the main and side streams differs in composition.

More than 90% main flow consists of 350-500 gaseous components, the most harmful of which are carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. The rest of the main flow consists of solid microparticles, including various toxic compounds.

The main flow of tobacco smoke is formed by 35% of a burning cigarette, 50% escapes into the surrounding air, making up an additional flow. From 5 to 15% components of a burnt cigarette remain on the filter.

Comparative table of the content of harmful substances in the additional flow:

Thus, many times more toxic components enter the atmosphere surrounding the smoker than enter the body of the smoker himself. It is this circumstance that causes a particular danger to others.

WHAT IS SMOKING DANGEROUS FOR OTHERS?

Many non-smokers are exposed to tobacco smoke because they inhale it at home, at work, and in public places where smokers are present.

A smoker with a cigarette that spreads tobacco smoke forces a non-smoker in the same room to passively smoke, whether he wants to or not.

At first it was believed that tobacco smoke had only an irritating effect on non-smokers in the sense that their mucous membranes of the nose and eyes became inflamed and their mouth was dry.

As information accumulated, it became clear that nonsmokers who live or work with smokers are truly putting their health at risk. They develop diseases characteristic of smokers:

• cardiovascular diseases;

• respiratory diseases;

• gastrointestinal diseases;

• diseases of the skeletal system;

• eye and skin diseases;

• oncological diseases of various human systems.

Specific figures and facts:

• A passive smoker, being in a room with active smokers for one hour , inhales a dose of some gaseous components of tobacco smoke that is equivalent to smoking half a cigarette .

• If a child lives in an apartment where one of the family members smokes 1-2 packs of cigarettes , then the child has an amount of nicotine in his urine corresponding to 2-3 cigarettes .

• Children exposed to passive smoking are more likely to suffer from infectious respiratory diseases, incl. pneumonia and bronchitis than children in whose homes there is no smoking.

• Tobacco smoke, which a person is forced to inhale, contains:

  • 50 times more carcinogens and ammonia;

  • 5 times more carbon monoxide; twice as much tar and nicotine as enters the body of the smoker himself.

  • twice as much tar and nicotine as enters the body of the smoker himself.

• In the side stream of tobacco smoke, the concentrations of volatile nitrosamines are 50-100 times higher than in the main stream.

• People with allergies, chronic bronchitis, pneumonia or sinusitis (sinusitis or sinusitis) feel more sensitive to tobacco smoke.

• Impact on pregnancy: Women exposed to tobacco smoke during childhood face an increased risk of miscarriage.

• The risk of developing lung cancer due to “passive smoking” in a non-smoking family member is 3.5 times higher than that in non-smoking families, and lung diseases in infancy and early childhood in children in families of smokers is almost two times higher.

Passive smoking in the workplace

Passive smoking or tobacco smoke in the workplace or in a residential area is considered a conditional "occupational hazard" for health.

• After 1.5 hours staying at the workplace in a smoky room, the concentration of nicotine in the body increases by 8 times , and the content of other toxic components also increases many times over.

• Experts have calculated that the harm of passive smoking corresponds to the harmful effects of smoking 1 cigarette every 5 hours and already after 10-15 minutes. it can cause profuse lacrimation:

  • in 14% non-smokers – short-term deterioration in visual acuity;

  • 19% – increased separation of mucus from the nose. – increased separation of mucus from the nose.

• Spending 8 hours in an enclosed area where smoking occurs will result in exposure to tobacco smoke equivalent to smoking more than 5 cigarettes .

Complex effect with other pollutants

Indoor smoking can have complex effects with other pollutants and therefore poses a significantly greater risk than exposure to a single toxic substance.

• When there is a high concentration of tobacco smoke in the air of a living room, the concentration of formaldehyde in it increases and can exceed the permissible limit by 5–10 times .

• The content of such a dangerous toxic substance as styrene, doubles .

The environmental danger of toxic substances contained in tobacco smoke is aggravated by the fact that they are absorbed by walls, ceilings, floors, furniture, and then migrate into the air of the home.

HOW TO PROTECT NON-SMOKERS FROM TOBACCO SMOKE

There is no safe level of human exposure to second-hand smoke. Neither ventilation nor filters, even combined, can reduce indoor smoke exposure to levels considered acceptable.

But it is necessary and necessary to protect non-smoking citizens from exposure to tobacco smoke and the diseases it causes . .

Proposals from the World Health Organization to protect the rights of non-smoking citizens:

1. It is necessary, first of all, to make our own apartments, entrances, and houses smoke-free.

2. Transform workplaces, industrial and agricultural enterprises, educational institutions and institutions, restaurants, bars, hotels, discos, theaters and cinemas, places of recreation and gatherings of people into smoke-free workplaces.

3. Create public organizations and associations to protect the rights of citizens to breathe clean air, to protect the health of children and adolescents.

In the conditions of our country, we can protect our citizens by:

1. Changes in the general mentality of the population in relation to their own health in general and to smoking, in particular, the involvement of the general public and the media in the fight against tobacco smog around us, the lack of culture of smokers who destroy their health and the health of others.

2. Develop a smoking culture among smokers: smoke only in designated and permitted places, do not throw away cigarette butts, cigarette packs, etc.

3. Unconditional and full implementation of regulations and other regulatory documents on the prevention of tobacco smoking and the prohibition of smoking in crowded places.

4. Proclamation of smoking-free areas (parks, public gardens, recreational areas for citizens, sports grounds, stadiums, public transport stops, etc.), but only under the condition of their actual transformation into such and bringing violators to financial and administrative liability.

CONCLUSION

Smoking is not a natural need of the body, like food, water or sleep. And although a person himself chooses: to smoke or not to smoke, freedom of choice does not give the smoker the right to poison others.

All Belarusians, young and old, in any place and at any time of the year, deserve the right to breathe clean air, including tobacco-free air!

To put this into practice is the task of the entire society, all state and non-state structures!