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The link between tobacco use, heart disease and lung cancer are no longer disputed and it is also strongly linked to the onset and progression of vascular (circulatory) disease. Vascular disease is any clogging of arteries (atherosclerosis), inflammation or weakness in the arteries and veins.
Passive Smoking - The Facts
Breathing other people's smoke is called passive, involuntary or secondhand smoking. The non-smoker breathes smoke from the burning tip of the cigarette and that exhaled by the smoker. Second-hand smoke (SHS) is a major source of indoor air pollution.
Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals in the form of particles and gases, 60 of which are known or suspected carcinogens (cancer causing chemicals).
However, more recently the scientific case that SHS damages the health of third parties has been emerging, with extensive evidence supporting this being published. The Government's Chief Medical Officer for England, the British Medical Association and other medical institutions also have extensive evidence to demonstrate that SHS is dangerous to the health of non-smokers and in particular is a workplace health and safety risk. Second-hand smoke has twice as much nicotine and tar as the smoke that smokers inhale. It also has five times the carbon monoxide which decreases the amount of oxygen in the blood. The evidence identifies passive smoking as a risk factor for:
Earlier this year shocking statistics showed that inhaling SHS at work may cause about 700 premature deaths a year, three times the number of people killed in all industrial accidents in the UK, making smoking the single biggest health and safety hazard in UK workplaces. Also more than two million people in Great Britain still work in workplaces where smoking is allowed throughout.
Passive Smoking - The Business Case
Employers are coming under increasing pressure to protect employees against smoke in the workplace. Concerned about the financial burden that future legal threat might pose, "the big five" pub chains, which represent some 22,000 of Britain's 55,000 outlets, have proposed their own in-house restrictions on smoking, with smoking at and behind the bar area of pubs to end by 2005. Also there is to be a move from 35% smoke-free floor space at the end of 2005, to 80% by the end of 2009.
It is estimated that 114,000 people die every year in the South East region alone from smoking related diseases, costing the NHS £0.2 billion and the region's economy approximately £1.7 billion. Therefore, it is considered that tackling smoking is critical to achieving healthy, thriving communities in our region. Many of these deaths arise amongst disadvantaged communities, where smoking rates are higher.
Stopping smoking in the workplace, as in New York, Ireland and Norway has proven to be successful and popular with the general public.
Smokefree England Regulations
These regulations, under the Health Act 2006, are primarily aimed at protecting employees from the effects of second-hand smoke in the workplace.
The Environmental Health & Licensing Division will be working with local businesses between now and 1st July 2007, when the regulations become law, offering advice and information and raising awareness together with partners, Surrey Smokefree Alliance, Surrey Primary Care Trust, Elmbridge's Local Strategies Partnership and other Surrey Local Authorities.
For more information see: