There are many reasons for unsatisfactory indoor and outdoor air quality ranging from natural environmental chemicals to those caused by humans such as factory emissions, burning garbage and auto pollution. As far as indoor air quality pollution is concerned, appliances such as stoves, lint filled clothes dryers and harmful cleaning fluids are some of the culprits. We will see in this article that there is another cause of unsafe air quality due to first and secondhand smoke.

The holiday gift giving season is coming up and it’s always lots of fun to wrap the presents in unusual ways such as wrapping a small gift in a large box or in box after box until the receiver can’t wait to see what their present is. Yes, wrapping usually gives us a positive warm feeling but there’s another wrapped item that although warm is far from a favorable gift. In fact, the innocent white wrapping is the only good thing about this health hazard, the cigarette.

Tobacco smoking has been around for thousands of years in different forms ranging from pipes, cigars, cigarettes and any other device from which an individual can inhale harmful tobacco. Cigarettes are addictive and are worse than other addictions such as alcohol, illicit drugs and pills in a distinctive way and that is when a person drinks at home and doesn’t drive, he is technically only harming himself. It’s true that alcohol addiction takes hold and can destroy an entire family emotionally. Drugs taken through injection, inhalation and by mouth get into a person’s bloodstream causing havoc and destruction to the addict. Again, if the addict is at home he is only harming himself directly.

Cigarette smoking, although perfectly legal, harms anyone who is in the vicinity of the smoker even if the other people in the room have never taken a puff. This is called secondhand smoke and innocent people get sick and even die from inhaling secondhand smoke. Most restaurants, airlines and indoor public places have laws and signs in place forbidding smoking in those areas. However, a chain smoker may light up in his or her home and nobody will come to arrest them or give them a summons and there the danger lies, for the family, friends and anyone else who is in the vicinity of the smoker.

Going back in time to classic movies and books, lighting up a cigarette or pipe was socially correct behavior. Just as today someone might take the cap off a water bottle or offer a Coke to a friend, cigarettes were considered the social norm. In 1902 a popular book came out geared not only to adults but to children as well about the famous detective, Sherlock Holmes. On the cover of the book is a shadow of this famous detective sitting smoking his pipe.

According to a survey in the Netherlands in the 1950’s, almost 90% of males from twenty to sixty years old smoked. That means that nine out of ten men smoked during that time frame. (Compared to the next seventy years after that when the amount was reduced to 20-30% of men in that same age group who smoked.)

Although there were rumblings of the dangers of tobacco smoking in the 1950’s, it wasn’t until 1964 that the Surgeon General of the United States made it official. If you’re an old movie buff, you will notice that lighting up a cigarette was a social norm comparable to having a drink at a cocktail party. Ladies would take out their own or be given a cigarette by a man, put it in her mouth and her male companion would light it. Blowing out smoke was cool, romantic and relaxing. Unlike whiskey drinking which was banned at the beginning of the twentieth century, folks did not think there was anything unhealthy about smoking cigarettes. Even though there were some rubbings in the 1930’s of the dangers of cigarettes, the tobacco companies had on hand lots of doctors to refute those charges. Doctors were hired in the 1940’s to encourage smoking in cigarette ads. For example, “More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette.” (1946) was one such an ad. In addition, if you wanted to be manly you would be smoking Camel as opposed to those less masculine cigarettes that had filters to take away some of the bad nicotine from entering the lungs. Ads such as, “the Marlboro man” provoked men to smoke that brand to be attractive to women.

As the decades passed and the 1960’s began, doctors and researchers were convinced that cigarette smoking was dangerous. It took many more years to persuade the general public of this threat to their health. The 1964 proclamation by the Surgeon General that smoking caused not only bronchitis, but cancer was a hard sell in the beginning. Eventually the perils of smoking caught on due to numerous ads, some with celebrities who were dying of cancer begging people to stop smoking. Even now, as people continue to smoke, the dangers are written clearly on the label and one reason this was instituted is because the cigarette companies were being sued by sick smokers.

Involuntary / Passive / Secondhand Smoking

Roommates, wives and even parents can be tolerant of their friends and relatives who smoke. They realize that smoking is a habit and unless the smoker is serious about stopping there is little their loved ones can do. Disaster can strike those innocent endearers when a dreaded diagnosis of cancer is related to them unexpectedly. “How could this happen?”, they wonder, “I’m not a smoker!” Yet time and time again companions of smokers are struck with sicknesses from secondhand smoke.

Since smokers today understand that smoking is dangerous for anyone who is in the vicinity of the smoker, they will try to go outdoors or in workplace hallways to smoke. Many businesses will have warnings about smoking in offices, so those smokers have no choice but to go out to smoke. Yet, there are still many people who ignore the warnings on the cigarette package label and will continue to smoke in their homes. When the smoker is living in an apartment the area is even smaller than a house and the chemicals are more concentrated and present a hazard to anyone in the vicinity of the smoker.

Whoever inhales the smoke, whether it’s the smoker or his companions, is breathing in harmful chemicals such as nicotine. The smoker inhales mainstream smoke, and the companions inhale secondhand smoke. Although the smoker gets his nicotine and other of seven thousand chemicals his companions are getting the same. Besides lung cancer, secondhand smoke inhalers are in danger of additional cancers such breast, throat and larynx cancer. Even if they are fortunate not to come down with cancer, they can most likely still have trouble with their nasal sinuses which makes it difficult for them to breathe and smell. Asthma is a common condition that wives of smokers suffer from and sometimes this can be fatal. No one wants to be responsible for their loved ones dying because of their bad habit.

During pregnancy both the baby and the mother can suffer severe side effects such as early birth, lower birth weight and lung issues. A woman who is exposed to secondhand smoke may have more difficulty getting pregnant and will go to a fertility specialist. The fertility specialist may ask the woman if she smokes but she may not mention that her husband does. Why should she go through all kinds of difficult treatments if her infertility could be prevented? If she or her husband are smokers at least let them desist while she is pregnant.

Indoor Air Quality is Compromised by Secondhand Smoke

Most offices and workplaces do not allow smoking in their chambers but do allow people to smoke in specially designated areas. Although the air in the buildings is ventilated and purified this does not ensure that workers are not exposed to the smoke. This is due to the fact that the ventilation systems cannot work fast enough to get the smoke out of the air.

Thirdhand Smoke Exposure Symptoms

One person in the house smokes and opens the windows to air out the room. Even if the air quality is improved by the fresh air coming from the outside the secondhand smoke has already done its damage. Carpets and upholstery already have the smoke particles ingrained in them and also mix with regular dust on the windowsills. When children and babies play on the floor they are exposed to the smoke particles in the carpet. If they are still at the age of putting their fingers in their mouths, they are actually consuming this harmful dust. Even if the homeowner is an avid cleaner and duster, once the vacuum stops the left-over dust settles all over again.

Final Words

A smoker must realize that he is not only endangering himself when he lights up but his family and coworkers as well. Even if he smokes outdoors the smoke sticks to his clothing and when he comes home from work and hugs his kids, he puts their health at risk. Although smoking is not as popular as it was seventy-five years ago, once the habit is made it is quite difficult to quit. Now that we are aware of how harmful secondhand smoke is, it is incumbent on responsible adults to take the right action. There are so many complaints about outdoor air pollution but poor indoor air quality due to secondhand smoke is a problem easily rectified.