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1) Re: 2009 House Bill 5284 (Establish workplace smoking cancer presumption )  by gypsy on January 19, 2010 

Secondhand smoke causes cancer

Secondhand smoke is classified as a "known human carcinogen"
(cancer-causing agent) by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), the U.S. National Toxicology Program, and the International
Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a branch of the World Health
Organization.

Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemical compounds. More
than 60 of these are known or suspected to cause cancer.

Secondhand smoke causes other kinds of
diseases and deaths

Secondhand smoke can cause harm in many ways. In the United
States alone, each year it is responsible for:

• an estimated 46,000 deaths from heart disease in
  non-smokers who live with smokers

• about 3,400 lung cancer deaths in non-smoking adults
  

• other breathing problems in non-smokers, including
  coughing, mucus, chest discomfort, and reduced lung function

• 150,000 to 300,000 lung infections (such as pneumonia and
  bronchitis) in children younger than 18 months of age, which result in
  7,500 to 15,000 hospitalizations annually

• increases in the number and severity of asthma attacks in
  about 200,000 to 1 million children who have asthma
  

• more than 750,000 middle ear infections in children
  

Pregnant women exposed to secondhand smoke are also at
increased risk of having low birth- weight babies.

Secondhand smoke may be linked to breast
cancer

An issue that is still being studied is whether secondhand
smoke increases the risk of breast cancer. Both mainstream and
secondhand smoke contain about 20 chemicals that, in high
concentrations, cause breast cancer in rodents. And we know that in
humans, chemicals from tobacco smoke reach breast tissue and are found
in breast milk.

But a link between secondhand smoke and breast cancer risk in
human studies is still being debated. This is partly because breast
cancer risk has not been shown to be increased in active smokers. One
possible explanation for this is that tobacco smoke may have different
effects on breast cancer risk in smokers and in those who are exposed
to secondhand smoke.

A report from the California Environmental Protection Agency
in 2005 concluded that the evidence regarding secondhand smoke and
breast cancer is "consistent with a causal association" in younger
women. This means that the secondhand smoke acts as if it could be a
cause of breast cancer in these women. The 2006 U.S. Surgeon General's
report, The Health
Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke,
found that there is "suggestive but not sufficient" evidence of a link
at this point. In any case, women should be told that this possible
link to breast cancer is yet another reason to avoid being around
secondhand smoke.

Secondhand smoke kills children and adults
who don't smoke, and makes others sick (Surgeon General's report)

The 2006 U.S. Surgeon General's report reached some important
conclusions:

• Secondhand smoke causes premature death and disease in
  children and in adults who do not smoke.
  

• Children exposed to secondhand smoke are at an increased
  risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), acute respiratory
  infections, ear problems, and more severe asthma. Smoking by parents
  causes breathing (respiratory) symptoms and slows lung growth in their
  children.

• Secondhand smoke immediately affects the heart and blood
  circulation in a harmful way. Over a longer time it also causes heart
  disease and lung cancer.
  

• The scientific evidence shows that there is no safe level
  of exposure to secondhand smoke.
  

• Many millions of Americans, both children and adults, are
  still exposed to secondhand smoke in their homes and workplaces despite
  a great deal of progress in tobacco control.
  

• The only way to fully protect non-smokers from exposure to
  secondhand smoke indoors is to prevent all smoking in that indoor space
  or building. Separating smokers from non-smokers, cleaning the air, and
  ventilating buildings cannot keep non-smokers from being exposed to
  secondhand smoke.
  

Where is secondhand smoke a problem?

 

At work

The workplace is a major source of secondhand smoke exposure
for adults. Secondhand smoke meets the standard to be classified as a
potential cancer-causing agent by the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA), the federal agency responsible for health and
safety regulations in the workplace. The National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), another federal agency, also
recommends that secondhand smoke be considered a possible carcinogen in
the workplace. Because there are no known safe levels, they recommend
that exposures to secondhand smoke be reduced to the lowest possible
levels.

Secondhand smoke in the workplace has been linked to an
increased risk for heart disease and lung cancer among adult
non-smokers. The Surgeon General has said that smoke-free workplace
policies are the only way to do away with secondhand smoke exposure at
work. Separating smokers from non-smokers, cleaning the air, and
ventilating the building cannot prevent exposure if people still smoke
inside the building. An extra bonus other than protecting non-smokers
is that workplace smoking restrictions may also encourage smokers to
quit.

In public places

Everyone can be exposed to secondhand smoke in public places,
such as restaurants, shopping centers, public transportation, schools,
and daycare centers. Some businesses seem to be afraid to ban smoking,
but there is no proof that going smoke-free is bad for business. Public
places where children go are a special area of concern.

 

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2) Re: 2009 House Bill 5284 (Establish workplace smoking cancer presumption )  by djadamini on January 19, 2010 

 Great Idea... next could be if you have a heart attack within 10 years of attending a county fair... you can sue the guy who sold the corn dogs!

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3) Re: 2009 House Bill 5284 (Establish workplace smoking cancer presumption )  by kmassey on September 1, 2009 

Rep. Timothy Bledsoe (D) do you have some scientific training or scientific evidence that would support you politically-motivated assertion?  I would guess not, given the EPA, OSHA, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association and many other groups that have been investigating the issue of second-hand smoke do not, you are just blowing smoke.  Focus on the REAL issue, like JOBS for the unemployed in the State.

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