According to the California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, passive smoking (second hand smoke) raises the risk of developing breast cancer for women under 50 by 68% to 120%. Post-menopausal women, say the researchers, do not have a greater risk from passive smoking.
Tobacco smoke is now classified as a toxic air contaminant in California by the Air Resources Board. State regulations on smoking are already pretty stringent in California – this new classification is likely to make things even stricter.
According to the report, passive smoking is also linked to:
— Premature births
— Asthma
— Heart Disease
— Some other cancers
— Pediatric health complications
Smoking in your car gives your non-smoking passenger a dose of smoke ten times greater than a guest watching you smoke in your home, say the researchers.
Many people have written to Medical News Today asking why it is that smoking has gone down so much over the last forty years in developed countries while asthma among children has more than tripled. Surely, if smoking provokes asthma among children, the numbers should be going down.
One smoking cyclist (does not have a car) wrote in to us and said: ?Car fumes are much worse for your health than second hand tobacco smoke. Try the test. Lock yourself in a garage and switch the car on – how long do you live? Then lock yourself with a smoker in a garage – how long do you live?’
Another wrote in with a comment on non-smoking areas in bars and restaurants. ?Having non-smoking areas in bars and restaurants is like having designated areas in swimming pools for people who do not urinate in the pool.’
Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today