The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutClinton News-Record, 1983-03-30, Page 26Laps 6 w sec When your workweek f naPy grinds to a halt and onday seems as fax off as your prospects for a raise, it's nice to relax with your friend Charlie in the little restaurant around the corner. The service is brisk and smiling and, across the table, Charlie is smiling too. He unzips a packet and holds it toward you. "Cigarette?" "Thanks. I don't smoke..." Oh? Well, let's seen what happens when Charlie Lights his cigarette. Two ties of Pollution The flick of Charlie's lighter touches off a two- stage train of pollution in the air you'll be breathing. There is mainstream pollution and there is sidestream pollution. Except for the fact that the odor of exhaled tobacco smoke can be stomach - turning to some people, mainstream pollution offers the lesser hazard to a non- smoker. It consists of the smoke that Charlie draws in, holds in his lungs for awhile, and then breathes out. It's to your advantage that Charlie holds the smoke in his lungs for, in so doing, he acts as a kind of filter, retaining within his own body significant amounts of gases and solid particles that would otherwise be available to you. For instance, he'll re- tain 54 per cent of all the car - n monoxide he inhales and over '. t per cent of all the solid smoke particles -but to his detriment, not yours. Charlie's "filtration" takes off a lot of the edge of mainstream pollution as far as you re concerned. The sidestream pollution is another matter, though. The sidestream pollution represents all the smoke t :It Charlie can't get into his mouth: smoke that escapes fror n the burning tip of his cigarette and from its butt. And te.:tVs where c' Able ll,us beg Sid Think. Have you ever noticed how the grey in Charlie's hair has a blondish tint? That's from his sidestream smoke. Some of the smoke is madeup of things that are in a gaseous state when they are warm, but which become sticky solids when they cool off. These "tars" condense on anything let is at normal room temperature --on Charlie's Il:.ltr, for instance, and on his clothes, giving his ets non - jackets a characteristic musty aroma. All that tar doesn't condense on Charlie: there's plenty left over for you... Your he..:Ith is at risk Besides tinting and scenting your hair and Every cigarette e e -makes your heart beat faster -shoots your blood pressure -lowers your skin tem- perature -replaces oxygen in your blood with carbon monoxide -leaves cancer-causing chemicals to spread through your E.'dy REGULAR SMOKING INCREASES YOUR CHANCES OF DYING FROM A SMOKE - RELATED DISEASE BY 70 PER CENT OVE ': A NON - SMOKE . THINK A:OUT IT!! clothes, sidestream smoke offers you some very real health risks. You are bound to suffer some discomfort from eye irritation due to smoke exposure, but if you :..:ve allergies that affect your breathing, such as hay fever or asthma, you'll face other problems as well. Sidestream smoke triggers nasal nuisances such as irritation and a runny nose. It makes you cough and wheeze far more than a non- ailergic person. Odds are it will even give you a mild headache. Carbon Monoxide The big sidestream smoke hazard hes in its carbon monoxide content. Carbon innocnoxide is one of the simplest, yet sneakiest gases known to chemists. It is colorless and odorless, so that you cannot tell when it is around,. One of the first ef- fects is to make you dull and perhaps a little sleepy. Carbon monoxide works by robbing the body of oxygen that it needs. Red blood cells normally carry oxygen from the lungs to all of the body's tissues. If there is any carbon monoxide in your lungs, the red blood cells will ignore the oxygen and pick it up instead. As the carbon monoxide content of your blood in- creases, more and more of your body begins to starve for oxygen, including your heart and brain tissues. When this happens, you may become more fumbling and uncertain. Your ability to sort out visual detail may suffer. To make matters worse, carbon monoxide is a cumulative poison. It builds up in your system: you take it in faster than you can get rid off it. The carbon monoxide that you inhale from Charlie's sidestream smoke will stay in your body for hours. Each successive cigarette he smokes in your presence, adds to that buildup. There's More Sidestream smoke causes iificant damage to the lungs of nonsmokers exposed to it. The smoke from Charlie's cigarette per- manently scars some of the small airways in your lungs. As this reduces your lung capacity, g it !Makes it necessary for you to put more effort into breathing in order to get the amount of oxygen your body needs. Furthermore, reduc - i lung capacity is often a forerunner of emphysema and other serious lung disorders. If Charlie has children or if his wife is pregnant, sidestream smoke around his home may be cause for concern. Impaired lung functions have been found in the children of parents who smoke. And constant ex- posure to cigarette smoke can injure the health of non- smoking wives and their unborn babies. How much can you safely In le from sidestrea1ns Medical authorities can't answer that question. i:ut 0 ers they can tell you that the risk of cancer increases right along with the amount of exposure to any carcinogen. And, furthermore, they'll tell you how deceptive carcinogens can be. Some seers to lodge in the body and lie dormant for years before producing a cancer. Only recently, new cancers have been traced to contact with asbestos used in gas mask manufacture during World War Ill. With tobacco smoke, the only dose that you can consider safe is no dose at all. But, if you continually breathe sidestream smoke from others' cigarettes, you are getting tiny doses day after day... There you have it Unwanted odors and tints of tobacco smoke in your hair and clothes. Irritations of your allergies. Cumulative carbon monoxide poisoning. Reduced lung efficiency. And an increase in cancer risk. And all from other peoples' cigarettes. So don't smoke Seems you only thought you didn't! You are a smoker, a passive smoker, as long as you are in the company of active smokers. What can you do about it? Well, to start with, you mi • :t begin by asking others not to smoke in your presence. Tell them that the odor of tobacco smoke an- noys you. Then you could urge smokers you know to quit. There is plenty of literature available that tells how and plenty of organizations willing to offer advice and help. For instance, your local office of the Canadian Cancer Society can help you out. Ask the owners of restaurants and taverns that you patronize regularly to set up nonsmokers' sections. They'll do it if enough people urge them. Phone or write your elected officials to ask what is being done about prohibiting smoking in en- closed public places and on trains, buses and aircraft. They want to hear from you. And, above all, be sure to discuss the problem with your nonsmoking friends. You'll be surprised at the number of new and useful ideas an enthused group can develop to combat passive smoking. T informti r 1� right t you with the kin Coenennemria0 & Resideneiall Swimming Poo0 thnildees & Consuleams R ntoul s Pools t Spas BILL RINTOUL President 1, Wingham, Ont. NOG 2W0 Half Mile North on Highway 4 519-357-2628 EAL John B. Pollard, Manager 55 Josephine Street, It"ingh. arm Ontario .\'OG 21r() (519) 357-1750/3 c r ti*n f the following: C Eo LI cTAVIS D 1161 Josephine St., Wingharn 357-2841 HEAD OFFICE - USTOWEL, ONTARIO Brar,che+ in: 11':n'harn. (,otierit h. Kincardine,. Hanore•r. Ori/iia. Owen Sound. .hoist lorect ,%4,d/aril. Brarehrrder'. Oran,eeri!/r. Barrie. Strat/ord. WI GHA TEL George and Mary Romanik Hwy. 4 S. of Wingham 357-1342 T. B. ALLEN LTD. Londesboro. Ont. Feed and Fertilizer Call 482-3363. 523-9606 or \X'1NGHAM FEED MILL, Wingham, Ont. Call 357-3060