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If your co-workers love smoking at the workplace, you better be careful for a new study says that secondhand smoke at the workplace doubles the risk of lung cancer in nonsmokers. Those who inhale secondhand smoke or in other words indulge in passive smoking are at a 50 percent increased risk of developing lung cancer. The study reviewed 22 previous research initiatives on secondhand smoke in the US, Canada, Europe, India, Japan and China. Inhaling the smoke of other people is called passive, involuntary or secondhand smoking. The non-smoker breathes the so-called "sidestream" smoke, which is leftover after the smoker has inhaled from the burnt tobacco. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has classified environmental tobacco smoke as a known human cancer-causing agent. The current study only reinforces this finding. Researchers led by Leslie Stayner of the University of Illinois at Chicago say that the risk of a nonsmoker developing lung cancer increases by 100 percent if he/she is exposed to large amounts of secondhand smoke at the workplace.
"We believe that our study provides the strongest evidence to date that smoking in the workplace does present a substantial risk to workers -- and particularly to workers who are working in highly exposed areas such as bar workers or restaurant workers," Stayner said. Passive smoking causes some immediate effects like eye irritation, headache, cough, sore throat, dizziness and nausea. Non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke have a 30 percent increased risk of heart disease and a 20 percent to 30 percent increased risk for lung cancer. Writing in the American Journal of Public Health, the researchers observed that nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke at the job had a 50 percent increased risk of lung cancer as compared to those not exposed to the smoke. Furthermore the study found that nonsmokers exposed to any kind of secondhand smoke had a 24 percent increased risk of developing lung cancer. Most corporate workplaces do have limits on smoking. But people like waiters and waitresses in bars and restaurants that permit smoking are at high risk for developing smoke-related illnesses. The best example is that of Heather Crowe, a Canadian woman who died of lung cancer in May 2006. A nonsmoker, Ms Crowe worked in restaurants and the inhaled secondhand smoke caused lung cancer leading to her death. That is why in the US Surgeon General Richard Carmona had called for a ban on public smoking in a hard-hitting report last year. "The science is clear. Secondhand smoke is not a mere annoyance but a serious health hazard," Surgeon General Richard Carmona had said. "The debate is over." Other countries are taking the lead in banning smoking from public places. Starting this week smoking is banned in offices, stores, schools and hospitals in France. It is estimated that banning smoking in all workplaces in the United States would prevent 1,500 heart attacks and 360 strokes, and would save $49 million. in direct medical costs. Around 14 states have banned smoking in workplaces, restaurants or bars since 1994. And 2,000 local governments also restrict smoking in public places.
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