Nicotine and nitrosamines found in dust in homes of smokers and non-smokers
Dusty danger While some of you may have been tidying your homes in readiness for visitors over the festive season, there are more reasons for using dusters and the vacuum cleaner than simply to avoid the embarrassment of a dusty house. For house dust harbours dangerous contaminants to which we can be exposed by inhalation and ingestion. Unlike outdoor dust, the indoor variety is persistent and more likely to be around for a longer period, extending the risk of exposure to those indoors. Recent research has found that the indoor dust is probably the major human exposure route for the fire retardant polybrominated diphenyl ethers but many other toxic compounds have been identified, including phthalates, pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls. These indoor pollutants can originate from external sources such as fuel … Read entire article »
Filed under: Nicotine dependence
Policy means nicotine tests for new workers
Geisinger Health Systems will no longer hire doctors, nurses or any job applicants who smoke cigarettes, chew tobacco or use any nicotine products.A number of health care providers across the country have adopted similar policies in recent years, but Geisinger is the largest one in Pennsylvania to do so. Hospital officials said the goal is to encourage healthier living, decrease absenteeism and reduce health care costs in the long term.“We’re hoping our applicants look at this in the same way we’re looking at it. This is really for a healthy environment for both our employees and our patient populations,” Lynn Miller, the executive vice president for clinical operations at Geisinger, said during a conference call, following Wednesday’s announcement.Job candidates will undergo testing as part of a routine drug screening.The tests typically … Read entire article »
Filed under: Nicotine dependence
Why do we smoke cigarettes?
Smoking cigarettes is a way of life for millions of users the world over. While there could be several reasons why people smoke cigarettes, here are a few main reasons that have been clinically proven and then listed: It is a Pleasure Without a shadow of a doubt, smoking is considered to be a fun activity. Since childhood, the concerned smoker has been exposed to the joys of smoking cigarettes, which he apparently sees in the form of advertisements or through live examples of elders smoking. Smoking is considered to be a “happening thing” and it is a pleasurable experience which each and every individual wishes to experience at least one in his/her lifetime. It is Considered Rewarding Once you start smoking cigarettes, you get on hooked to them. It has been scientifically proven … Read entire article »
Filed under: Nicotine dependence, Tobacco news
Three FdL County businesses fail tobacco compliance checks
Three out of 15 rural Fond du Lac County businesses that were visited as part of recent tobacco compliance checks sold tobacco to underage youth. The checks were part of the Wisconsin. Wins tobacco retail compliance effort. The Wisconsin Wins campaign is a state-level initiative designed to decrease youth access to tobacco products. The campaign was launched in 2002 to assure compliance with the Federal Synar regulation, which requires states to maintain a youth access rate of less than 20 percent and is part of a comprehensive approach to preventing youth access to tobacco. “The percent of sales during the recent tobacco checks was at exactly 20 percent,” said Julie Jorgensen, assistant Tobacco Control Program coordinator for 5 Counties for Tobacco-Free Living, in … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Nicotine dependence, Smoking effects
For better or worse smoking is part of our society
By Garit Reid Smoking in my personal opinion is wrong and I think it’s an unhealthy option but giving movies an adult rating for its usage is ill conceived. The Ontario Film Review Board stated recently that they will work with a non-smoking advocate group to give movies an 18A (adult) rating for movies and video games that depict smoking. My first point to be made is every movie depicted in the 1970s and before will have to have an adult rating because smoking was a big part of society in those days. This form of censorship won’t work because it would cripple the movie industry in Ontario. Simply, movies don’t make as much money when they have an adult rating for the most part. I’m sorry, even though smoking is unhealthy it’s part … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Nicotine dependence
Cigarette butts can harm aquatic life
Tossing a cigarette butt into the street or onto a sidewalk or curb can earn you a fine for littering, but the consequences are more severe for plant and aquatic life in Memphis-area rivers, lakes and streams. In addition to looking bad, cigarette butts can wash into drain inlets during storm events. Storm water carries the butts, flows from the inlets through the drainage system and discharges into the local creeks and rivers and eventually the Mississippi River. Cigarette butts transported by the storm water pose a threat to fish and other aquatic life in these water bodies. These filters contain heavy metals such as cadmium, arsenic and lead as well as potential carcinogens such as benzene. Also, the cellulose acetate from which the filters are made can take up to 10 … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Nicotine dependence
Big tobacco lobby ‘scaremongering’
TOBACCO industry claims that international crime gangs are flooding Australia with smuggled cigarettes, or ”chop chop”, are being investigated by the competition watchdog.But the allegations have been emphatically denied by Customs and Border Protection.The claims are part of a campaign against the Gillard government’s plan to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes, which is expected to culminate in a constitutional challenge in the High Court of Australia. British American Tobacco Australia chief executive David Crow warned last week that plain cigarette packets would provide a ”field day” for organised criminals, who had profited from a 150 per cent increase in illegal tobacco in Australia over the past three years. But Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor, who is responsible for customs, accused the powerful tobacco lobby of scaremongering to protect its commercial interests. ”It is … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Nicotine dependence
Teens aim to educate peers about tobacco
Teens from across Kansas will be in Hays on Saturday to educate and expose peers and parents to the harmful effects of tobacco use.The Reality Check Tour, a youth-designed program sponsored by the Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition, will be at Fort Hays State University’s Sternberg Museum of Natural History, 3000 Sternberg Drive, starting at 1 p.m. Although information about the damaging effects of cigarettes and tobacco products has been available for many years, new products are reaching the market aimed at a younger audience. Tour members hope to help educate the public about targeted marketing efforts of tobacco companies. “We want to wake Kansans up to the tobacco realities that affect everyone,” Ashley Hrabe, member of the Reality Check team and a graduating senior from Saline County, said in a press release. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Nicotine dependence
WJ Smoking Ordinance Returned for Revision
West Jefferson’s Board of Aldermen wrestled with the development of a smoking ordinance for the town during their regular monthly meeting Monday, May 2. The meeting began with a public hearing on the issue. Only one person spoke during the public hearing expressing support for an ordinance but felt it should cover all tobacco products, not just smoking tobacco. Mayor Hudler asked the Aldermen if they had any comments for the public hearing portion. All five aldermen spoke, with many commonalities among their comments stating they felt the draft of the ordinance was more restrictive than what they had originally wanted developed. Generally they felt the ordinance should have been developed to cover only the park and playground areas of town, most also felt it should include all tobacco products usage, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Nicotine dependence
Widnes roadshow highlights dangers of dodgy tobacco
DODGY cigarettes were in the spotlight when an illegal tobacco roadshow visited Widnes. The NHS Health Improvement Team and Halton Trading Standards event was held to increase awareness of the illegality and potential harm caused by cheap and fake tobacco products. It also pointed out dangers of second hand smoke to children. Health Improvement Team tobacco co-ordinator Tisha Baynton said: “Many people believe that by smoking out of the window, by the back door or in another room, children are kept safe from the cigarette smoke. They’re not. “Harmful chemicals linger in the air wherever people smoke. Worse still, they’re mostly invisible and odourless.” Young people from Halton’s Canal Boat Adventure Project encouraged more than 80 families to sign a pledge to keep their homes smokefree. Illegal tobacco products such as cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco are … Read entire article »
Filed under: Nicotine dependence
Displaying tobacco in shops should be consigned to history
The government will soon decide whether cigarette displays in shops should be banned. Health campaigners insist they should, believing this will reduce the number of young people smoking, while those who run convenience shops oppose the move, saying it will cost up to £1,000 to remove the displays and to fit under-the-counter trays to hold tobacco products. This, they warn, will increase queues in shops, levels of theft and smuggling. Whether a ban deters young people from smoking is fiercely contested. Several Canadian provinces that introduced a ban have witnessed a significant fall in youth smoking. But provinces that did not introduce a ban have also seen falls. What is clear is that in the Canadian example the smoking lobby vigorously resisted the move, advancing the same arguments against the ban now … Read entire article »
Filed under: Nicotine dependence
Passive smoking linked to hearing loss
While some people make the decision to smoke, those who inhale their smoke passively have less control over the damage tobacco smoke can do to their health, including their hearing. Passive smokers are at an increased risk of hearing loss, according to a new study in the journal Tobacco Control. Previous studies have already established that smokers put their own hearing at risk. In the study, a team from the University of Miami and Florida International University looked at the hearing test results of more than 3,000 US adults, some of whom smoked, some of whom were exposed passively to tobacco smoke, and some of whom had never smoked. Researchers found that hearing damage can be caused by both active and passive smoking, possibly because tobacco smoke disrupts blood flow in the capillaries of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Nicotine dependence
Tobacco facts
- Are state employees not fussing up to tobacco use? February 3, 2012
- Tobacco Lawsuit Helps Oregon February 2, 2012
- Can tobacco be used to treat cancer? February 1, 2012
- Tobacco sales tax January 31, 2012
- Tobacco giant January 30, 2012
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