A new study backs the conclusion of the Centers of Disease Control [CDC], and approximately 100 medical and antismoking organizations, that exposure to as little as 30 minutes of tobacco smoke drifting into the no-smoking section of a restaurant can trigger a fatal heart attack in a nonsmoker by affecting the arteries and blood.
The new study shows that 30 minutes of exposure can cause profound blood vessel injury, even in healthy young adults, thereby greatly increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease and a fatal or crippling heart attack. It concludes that there is no safe lower level of exposure to drifting tobacco smoke. As WebMD noted:
"The researchers learned that in healthy nonsmokers, even brief exposure to secondhand smoke resulted in blood vessel dysfunction and interfered with the activity of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), which are believed to play a key role in repairing blood vessels." "Taken together, these findings provide further evidence that even a very short period of passive smoke exposure has strong, persistent vascular consequences," the scientists write in the journal article."
http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/news/20080426/secondhand-smoke-damage-in-mere-minutes
The scientists say "our results help explain why there is a big immediate drop in heart attacks when smoke-free laws are passed." Thus this study may further accelerate the passage of laws banning smoking in most indoor areas -- including workplaces, restaurants, bars, bingo parlors, and casinos -- says public interest law professor John Banzhaf, Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), America's first antismoking organization.
This new study provides further experimental support for this warning by the CDC: "“Could eating in a smoky restaurant precipitate an acute myocardial infarction in a non-smoker? . . ., a growing body of scientific data suggests that this is possible . . . laboratory data suggest that even 30 minutes of exposure to a typical dose of secondhand smoke induces changes in arterial endothelial function in exposed non-smokers of a magnitude similar to those measured in active smokers."
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/328/7446/980?ck=nck
A similar warning appeared in an article in a leading medical journal entitled “Cardiovascular Effects of Secondhand Smoke – Nearly as Large as Smoking” which found that “the effects of even brief (minutes to hours) passive smoking are often nearly as large (averaging 80% to 90%) as chronic active smoking,”)
http://www.circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/111/20/2684
Perhaps most tellingly of all, the US Surgeon General has stated in no uncertain terms:
* There is no safe amount of secondhand tobacco smoke.
* People who have heart disease should be very careful not to go where they will be around secondhand smoke.
* The bottom line is that breathing secondhand smoke makes it more likely that you will get heart disease, have a heart attack, and die early.
* Even a short time in a smoky room causes your blood platelets to stick together. Secondhand smoke also damages the lining of your blood vessels. In your heart, these bad changes can cause a deadly heart attack
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/secondhandsmoke/
These studies are likely to have a major impact on legislators considering laws banning smoking because so many of them are already at greatly increased risk of heart attacks. Those at high risk include: men over 40, post-menapausal women, and those who are overweight, have high cholesterol or high blood pressure, don't get enough exercise, have diabetes, and/or have a family or personal history or heart or circulatory problems.
Many of these people were exposed to large amounts of tobacco smoke while growing up. So most may figure that if it hasn't already caused lung cancer, one night at a restaurant or bar or night club will not significantly increase that risk because it is cumulative.
But each time a nonsmoker is exposed to drifting tobacco smoke for as little as 30 minutes, it increases his chances of sudden death from a heart attack to virtually that of a smoker. Moreover, notes Banzhaf, heart attacks from secondhand smoke kill about 20 times more Americans each year than lung cancer from involuntary smoking.
PROFESSOR JOHN F. BANZHAF III
Executive Director and Chief Counsel
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
2013 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006, USA
(202) 659-4310 // http://ash.org
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