ASH: Summarizing the Deadly Effects of
Secondhand Tobacco Smoke [02/24/06-1]
As previously noted, the decision
by Calabasas, California, to
ban smoking in virtually all outdoor areas – including sidewalks,
streets, restaurant patios, parking lots, etc. – creates a
new paradigm. Instead of smoking outdoors being the norm, with
either no restrictions, or with restrictions only in certain areas
(like parks, playgrounds, beaches, etc.), the new norm is no
smoking. Virtually the only exceptions will be small and isolated
“smokers’ outposts”
in remote sections of parking lots.
SEE: http://no-smoking.org/Feb06/02-22-06-1.html
One reason of many for this
new paradigm was growing evidence of just how harmful tobacco smoke
pollution can be, even outdoors. Here is a brief summary of just
some of the scientific and medical research which ASH cited to the Calabasas City Council in helping to
persuade it to adopt this unprecedented smoking ban.
FIRST, we noted that careful scientific studies – based upon
both highly accurate mathematical modeling techniques as well as actual
real-life measurements – have shown that concentrations of secondhand
tobacco smoke in many outdoor areas are often as high or higher than in
some indoor areas. Here we cited several published scientific
studies.
SECOND, ASH noted that the risks posed by such outdoor exposure,
while small to most individuals, are well beyond generally accepted
norms when large numbers of people are involuntarily exposed.
Here we cited, among other support, a major report by the California Air Resources Board which
included numerous citations to published studies.
THIRD, ASH explained that drifting
tobacco smoke, even outdoors, can trigger asthmatic attacks, bronchial
infections, and other serious health problems in nonsmokers. This is
especially true for the almost 100 million Americans who have asthma,
chronic bronchitis, chronic sinusitis, emphysema, and other breathing
related conditions which make them especially susceptible to secondhand
tobacco smoke. Here, in addition to a major survey, we cited several
actual instances.
FOURTH, ASH reported that even for
some people without such respiratory conditions, breathing drifting
tobacco smoke for even brief periods can be deadly. For example, the Centers for Disease Controls [CDC]
has warned that breathing drifting tobacco smoke for as little as 30
minutes ( less than the time one might be exposed outdoors on a beach,
sitting on a park bench, listening to a concert in a park, etc.) can
raise a nonsmoker’s risk of suffering a fatal heart attack to that of a
smoker. Here, because the CDC report was so important, and many
people were not aware of it, we cited numerous sources:
A. First, as the Washington Post
reported it in an article entitled Secondhand
Smoke Poses Heart Attack Risk, CDC
Warns: “The CDC
disclosed its new advisory in a commentary to a study published in the British Medical Journal
yesterday, saying doctors need to warn people with heart problems that
secondhand smoke can significantly increase their risk of a heart
attack. The agency
said that as little as 30 minutes' exposure can have a serious and even
lethal effect.” Here ASH highlighted certain words
to emphasize how this respected news organization reported it, and how
even a brief exposure can have a “lethal effect.”
B. Similarly, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
warned in an article entitled Smoking
Gun that: “The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
cautioned that secondhand smoke
greatly increases the risk of
heart attack for those with heart disease. For such
people, even
30 minutes' exposure can be lethal, the government warns.”
Again ASH highlighted certain words to make clear that this independent
news organization also understood that a “lethal risk”
– i.e., the risk of death – could occur from “even 30 minutes’
exposure.”
C. These and similar reports in dozens of major
newspapers were based upon an article by two scientific officials from
the Centers for Disease Control
entitled How Acute and Reversible are
the Cardiovascular Risks of Secondhand Smoke? To be sure
that the Calabasas City Council fully understood the import of this
article, and did not simply rely upon ASH’s summary (which was
virtually the same as that of many impartial media outlets), ASH
included the following text from the article by these two CDC
scientists.
“Could eating in a smoky restaurant precipitate an acute myocardial
infarction in a non-smoker? As unlikely as this sounds, a
growing body of scientific data suggests that this is possible. In
this
context, the results of the observational study in Helena, MT are
provocative: hospital admissions for acute myocardial infarction
declined by about 40% during the six months in which a comprehensive
local ordinance on clean air was in effect, and rebounded after the
ordinance was suspended. . . .” “Even without future studies or
replications of these
findings, the data are
sufficient to
warrant caution regarding exposure to secondhand smoke.”
“Clinicians should be aware that such exposure
can pose acute risks, and all patients at increased risk
of coronary heart disease or with known coronary artery disease should
be advised to avoid all indoor environments that permit smoking.
Additionally, the families of such patients should be counseled not to
smoke within the patient's home or in a vehicle with the patient. In
addition to its impact on heart disease, exposure to secondhand smoke causes lung cancer in non-smokers,
respiratory infections and asthma
in children, and even death in
exposed infants.” Once again ASH highlighted certain words from
the article to emphasize that it was the CDC’s own conclusion that an “acute myocardial
infarction” (i.e., a sudden and often fatal heart attack) can
occur from the very brief exposure to drifting tobacco smoke one might
encounter in a restaurant.
D. After citing a number of other studies
supporting the basic conclusion that exposure to secondhand tobacco
smoke for even a brief period can be fatal, ASH noted an article in Circulation
magazine entitled Cardiovascular
Effects of Secondhand Smoke - Nearly as Large as Smoking.
It concluded that: “The effects of even
brief (minutes to hours) passive smoking are often nearly as large
(averaging 80% to 90%) as chronic active smoking.” [emphasis added]
E. In addition, for those who might still have
any doubts, we now have the findings and conclusions of the
California Air Resources Board.
This body, after exhaustive study and hearings, concluded that
secondhand tobacco smoke, both indoors and outdoors, is a
“TOXIC AIR
CONTAMINANT” from which
the public, by law, must be protected. Here are some of its
findings:
i. Secondhand tobacco smoke causes (among other
things) “lung cancer, nasal sinus
cancer, and breast cancer in
younger primarily premenopausal women”
ii. Secondhand tobacco smoke also causes
heart disease mortality [deaths], acute
and chronic coronary heart disease
morbidity, and altered vascular properties"
iii In California alone, secondhand tobacco
smoke each year causes “over 3,600 cardiac deaths” [this does not include deaths from
cancers, etc.]
iv. “Non-smokers are exposed to [secondhand tobacco
smoke] in several different environments, such as outside
office buildings . . .. The
ARB monitored outdoor nicotine (a marker for ETS) concentrations in
these environments and found that some of the highest nicotine
monitoring results are comparable to
those found in some smoker’s homes.” [ASH has highlighted certain words in red
for added emphasis.]
For more information, see:
http://ash.org/outdoors.pdf
http://www.arb.ca.gov/toxics/ets/factsheetets.pdf
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