Nichole Steinfeldt Secondhand Smoking Effects Quantative Reasoning Final Project Math 1030 According to the U.S.

Surgeon General, Tobacco smoke alone contains more than 7,000 chemicals and compounds, including hundreds that are toxic and at least 69 that cause cancer. Salt Lake Community College is currently a smoking campus and the tobacco policy is that you are not allowed to smoke within 25 feet of any door or window. Secondhand smoke at SLCC is a problem and the information below says it all. In the Surgeon Generals Report of 2006, a study was done on 74 school-aged children by testing their urine content if they were exposed to secondhand smoke. Cotinine is a valid biomarker for nicotine uptake in nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke.

This shows that the more NNAL and NNAL-Gluc the more cotinine the child has in their system due to the exposure to secondhand smoke. The more cotinine the child has in their system the more cancer causing chemicals they have as well and they are more at risk of cancer. According to a staff member at Salt Lake Community Colleges Health and Wellness Department, we have more students with Asthma then we do people that smoke. One of the leading causes of Asthma starts at childhood. If an adult in the family is smoking and that child is exposed to the smoke, the airway develops differently than for a child that isnt exposed to the smoke. Alterations in airway wall structure, particularly increased air-way wall thickness, were found in infants exposed to maternal smoking. The second way that may cause asthma is the induction of bronchial hyperactivity (BHR). Secondhand smoke exposure increases BHR in both children and adults. Martinez and colleagues reported an increase in BHR following exposure to secondhand smoke in 70% of nine-year-old children whose mothers had smoked regularly during pregnancy. In a study done in Japan, 540 non-smoking wives (age 40+) were followed up for 14 years. Standardized mortality rates for lung cancer were assessed according to the smoking habits of their husbands. The relation between the husbands smoking and the wifes risk of developing lung cancer showed a similar pattern. After the 14 years, a total of 346 deaths from lung cancer in women were recorded. Thats 64% of the non-smoking wives received a type of lung cancer. Another study that was done on lung cancer was done in 2001 over a population of 31,345 people. These people completed a baseline questionnaire on smoking, drinking and dietary habits, and reproductive history. To assess residential secondhand smoke exposure, the participants were asked to identify any smokers in their households. Of the 10,334 lifetime nonsmoking women, 9,675 had no history of cancer and had a complete history of secondhand smoke exposure that included the smoking status of the husband and other household members. The identified 24 nonsmoking women

who had developed lung cancer during the nine-year follow-up period. They also noticed that the risk for lung cancer was higher with husbands that were smokers then women married to nonsmokers. Another study done on 157,436 nonsmoking women in Korea whose husbands were enrolled in a health insurance plan. The classification of exposure to secondhand smoke was based on smoking intensity (the number of cigarettes currently smoked) and duration (the number of years of continuous smoking to date). During three and a half years of follow-up, they identified 79 people with lung cancer both existing and newly incident during follow-up. The adjusted lung cancer incidence rates were 30% higher among women whose husbands were former smokers and 90% higher among women whose husbands were current smokers compared with women married to nonsmokers. The researchers noticed a trend in that a risk with an increase in duration of exposure. For example, the RR for women who were exposed to secondhand smoke for 1-29 years was 1.6 and the RR for those who were exposed for 30 or more years was 3.1. Lung cancer isnt the only type of cancer you can receive from secondhand smoke. Breast Cancer has been noticed in non-smokers that are around active smokers. Skin tissues of smokers are exposed to carcinogens but smoking has antiestrogenic effects. Though genetics plays a huge part in whether an individual is more likely to have breast cancer, according to the Surgeon General, smoke from secondhand smoke has shown a 46% decrease in the hormone estrogen in certain women. The relationship between secondhand smoke and breast cancer was investigated in the Japan Public Health Center. 21,805 middle-aged women, of whom 20,169 were lifetime non-smokers, completed a self-administered questionnaire and provided information about exposure to secondhand smoke at home before and after 20 years of age. For exposure outside of the home, such as work or school, participants were asked about exposures of at least on hour per day, including the frequency of exposures. After nine years, investigators identified 180 breast cancers (162 occurred in lifetime

nonsmokers). Thats .8% of the lifetime non-smokers that got breast cancer. Cervical Cancer has been recently noticed with patterns of secondhand smoke exposure. In the United States, a study was done through telephone interview. Women aged 18-44 years who were not pregnant and did not have a history of hysterectomy were contacted using a behavioral survey that included questions on active smoking and secondhand smoke exposure. Participants were specifically asked whether they had ever smoked as many as 100 cigarettes in their lifetime. Smokers who averaged one cigarette or more per day during the past 12 months were classified as current smokers. Women who had smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime but did not smoke daily were classified as former smokers. Exposure to secondhand smoke was based on the smoking patterns of husbands or partners or other household members. A total of 2,448 women, 582 cases (465 had Class 2 and 117 had Class 3 to 4 Pap smear results), and 1,866 controls were included in the analysis. 54% (315 women) of the cases and 62% (1,158 women) of controls were lifetime nonsmokers. Compared with the lifetime nonsmokers, current smokers had an increased risk of an abnormal Pap smear (95%). Compared with unexposed lifetime nonsmokers, nonsmokers who were exposed to secondhand smoke also showed an increased risk of abnormal Pap smear results of Class 2 to 4. With this being said, the Surgeon General has posted information as to what is being done about the college level and tobacco policies. Back in 1996 approximately 73% of colleges and universities permitted smoking. In a 1999 survey of 393 students in a four-year college, found that 85% found it to be either a problem or a major problem. Weber State University recently passed a smoke-free campus in the month of November 2013. This is something that several universities and colleges around the globe are pushing towards. The hope is now that Salt Lake Community College can strive for healthier air.

Works Cited

"Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Homepage." Health Harms From Secondhand Smoke. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. <http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/>.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking Attributable Disease: A Report of the Surgeon General. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2010.

"Surgeon General | SurgeonGeneral.gov." The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. <http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/>.

Hirayama, Takeshi. "Non-smoking Wives of Heavy Smokes Have a Higher Risk of Lung Cancer: A Study from Japan." SciELO Public Health. National Cancer Centre Research Institute, Tokyo, Apr. 2000. Web. 02 Dec. 2013. <http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?pid=S0042-96862000000700013>.