Exploring Ways That Second Hand Smoke
Impact Your Health
Second hand smoke (SHS) is also known as
Environmental Tobacco Smoke. SHS includes
both exhaled and sidestream emissions. SHS
contains more than 4,000 substances,
including over 40 that are linked to
cancer.
How Does Second Hand Smoke Relate
To Asthma?
SHS may trigger asthma episodes and make
asthma symptoms more severe in children
who already have asthma. Moreover, it is a
risk factor for new cases of asthma in
children who have not previously exhibited
asthma symptoms.
The means by which SHS triggers an asthma
episode is believed to be through its
irritancy effects. That is, it irritates
the chronically inflamed bronchial
passages of asthmatics. This is a
different pathway from most of the other
environmental triggers of asthma, like
dust mites and pet dander, which trigger
asthma episodes through allergenic
effects.
Exposure to it is also known to cause a
variety of other negative health
consequences, including lung cancer, ear
infections in children, and respiratory
illnesses.
Many of the health effects of SHS
(including asthma) are most clearly
manifested in children. This is because
children are particularly vulnerable to
SHS. This is likely due to several
factors, including the fact that children
are still developing physically, have
higher breathing rates than adults, and
have little control over their indoor
environments. Children receiving high
doses of SHS, such as those with smoking
mothers, run the greatest relative risk of
experiencing damaging health effects.
Second Hand
Smoke
Which Unit Do You Need?
Actions You Can Take:
- Choose not to use cigarettes or cigars
in your home or car and do not permit
others to do so either.
- Choose not to use cigarettes or cigars
in the presence of asthmatics.
- Choose not to use cigarettes or cigars
in the presence of children, who are
particularly susceptible to the effects
of SHS.
- Do not allow babysitters or others who
work in your home to use cigarettes or
cigars in the house or near your
children.
Air Cleaning
The three most common approaches to
reducing indoor air pollution are:
Source Control: Eliminate. reduce
or control the sources of pollution;
although it is difficult to force pets
outdoors, stop people from using
cigarettes and cigars and eliminate all
odors.
Ventilation: Dilute and exhaust
pollutants through outdoor air
ventilation; in the winter however,
venting to the outdoors may increase
heating and energy costs.
Air Cleaning: Remove pollutants
through proven air cleaning methods and
products.
The first approach -- source control --
involves minimizing the use of products
and materials that cause indoor pollution,
employing good hygiene practices to
minimize biological contaminants
(including the control of humidity and
moisture, and occasional cleaning and
disinfection of wet or moist surfaces),
and using good housekeeping practices to
control particles.
The next approach -- outdoor air
ventilation -- is also effective and
commonly employed. Ventilation methods
include installing an exhaust fan close to
the source of contaminants, increasing
outdoor air flows in mechanical
ventilation systems, and opening windows,
especially when pollutant sources are in
use.
The third approach -- air cleaning -- the
best method is used to supplement source
control and ventilation. Air filters,
electronic particle air cleaners and
ionizers are often used to remove airborne
particles, and gas adsorbing material is
sometimes used to remove gaseous
contaminants when source control and
ventilation are inadequate.
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