Environmental Tobacco Smoke: A Cause of Breast Cancer?
What are the risks of second hand or environmental smoke?
In 1991, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that 20% of lung cancers diagnosed among nonsmokers were due to exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, making the risk of developing a smoking-related disease 1:1000, higher than all chemically related environments regulated by the EPA.
Today, secondhand smoke is thought to contribute to about 3400 lung cancer deaths and 23,000 to 70,000 cardiovascular deaths in U.S. nonsmokers annually. It is especially harmful to young children and is thought to be responsible for between 150,000 and 300,000 respiratory tract infections in children under 18 months of age, resulting in between 7500 and 15,000 hospitalizations annually. It is thought to be one of the causes of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
The most recent Surgeon General’s Report concluded that even brief exposures to secondhand smoke can cause blood platelets to become stickier, damage the lining of blood vessels, decrease coronary artery blood flow, and increase the risk of an acute heart attack.
Following this report, there has been progress in improving the number of workplaces that are smoke-free. National trends for smoke-free environments have continued to improve from 46.3% in the years 1992–1993 to 70.9% in 2001–2002 and 131% in 2002-2012.
Terms:
Platelets – (Also known as thrombocytes.) A type of blood cell involved in the cellular mechanisms of the formation of blood clots. Low levels or dysfunction predisposes for bleeding, while high levels, although usually asymptomatic, may increase the risk of the development of a thrombus
