Some people call Environmental Tobacco Smoke, Second Hand Smoke, but there is nothing second hand about it. Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) is a mixture of "mainstream smoke" (the smoke that is exhaled by smokers) and "sidestream smoke" (smoke that comes from the burning end of a cigarette or other tobacco product). ETS has many of the same cancer causing and toxic agents that are in mainstream smoke, but at higher levels! Just think, every time you are around someone who smokes you are breathing in chemical compounds like tar, carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, formaldehyde, benzene, and nicotine. The list goes on and on. There are over 4,000 chemical compounds that have been identified in tobacco and tobacco smoke. It's no wonder that tobacco smoke is classified as a Class A Carcinogen! This category is used only for the most dangerous cancer-causing agents in humans. Why, breathing in ETS is even more dangerous than being exposed to asbestos!

People have known for a long time that smoking tobacco is a major cause of death and disease. In fact, it's the number # 1 preventable cause of death in the nation. It causes over 400,000 people to die in the United States every year. It's responsible for more deaths than cocaine, heroin, alcohol, fire, automobile accidents, homicides, suicides, and AIDS combined. Now we know that Environmental Tobacco Smoke kills too! In the US, ETS takes the lives of more than 50,000 people every year from heart disease, lung cancer, and other cancers. (Glantz & Parmley, 1991; USDHHS,1986).

Can you imagine how many lives the loss of 400,000 or 50,000 people affect? Think how many people are hurt when one person dies! The sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, husband, wife, mother, father.... One life is too precious to lose...Your life is too precious to lose.

The next time you go into a room where there is smoking, think about the poisons that are in the air. Don't let anyone tell you that you are safe from the dangers of ETS because the building which smoking is allowed in has a ventilation system. Ventilation systems Do Not eliminate ETS. A ventilation system may help to reduce the odor from ETS, but it doesn't remove the chemicals. Some restaurants have "Smoking" and "No Smoking" areas. This really doesn't protect against the dangers of ETS either. Having a smoke-free section of a restaurant is like trying to have a chlorine-free section of a swimming pool.

What can you do to protect yourself? Avoid places where there is smoking. Now, that may not be easy. You may have relatives who smoke. Maybe you can persuade them to read about the deadly affects of Environmental Tobacco Smoke. Tell them you are concerned for your health, as well as theirs.

Next, write the owners of local restaurants, skating rinks, and bowling alleys. Tell them that you would enjoy coming to their places of business if they would not allow smoking.

Write your legislators. Tell them you want their help in protecting your health. Tell them it is not enough to have just municipal buildings smoke free. Explain that we need the air in ALL public buildings to be safe to breathe.

Be aware that the tobacco companies are fighting hard to make sure that smoking is allowed in public buildings. Their motive becomes clear when you realize that 26.5 billion packs of cigarettes are sold in the United States every year. That means 840 packs are sold per second! Companies that manufacture cigarettes reported after-tax profits of $7.2 billion dollars in 1989. They use some of this money to hire doctors and scientists who may be willing to lie about test results. When you read a report, always consider the source. Rely on reports written by organizations like the Medical Society and the American Heart Association. We've provided some good links for you to check out on our resources  page.

• ETS is so dangerous that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classified tobacco smoke as a Class A Carcinogen...a category that is used for only the most dangerous cancer-causing agents in humans.
• It is responsible for approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths each year in nonsmokers.
• ETS contains more than 4,000 substances, more than 40 of which are known to cause cancer in humans or animals and many of which are strong irritants.
• Every year 53,000 nonsmoking Americans die from inhaling other
  people's tobacco smoke.
• Each year ETS kills an estimated 3,000 adult nonsmokers from
  lung cancer.
• It is reported that more than 10,000 people die every year from
  cancers (other than lung cancer) caused by ETS.
• It is estimated that 30,000 to 60,000 nonsmokers die each
  year because of ETS- caused heart disease, and three times
  that many people have nonfatal heart attacks as a result of ETS
  exposure.
• According to researchers, nonsmokers are much more susceptible
  to heart damage from secondhand smoke than are smokers because their bodies haven't built up defenses against the onslaught of tobacco poisons.
• Nonsmokers exposed to ETS at work are 39 percent more
  likely to get lung cancer than nonexposed nonsmoking employees.
• ETS is responsible for 1,900 to 4,800 infant deaths from
  prenatal (while in the womb) disorders and 1,200 to 2,200 deaths
  from SIDS (Sudden Death Syndrome).
• Among American children, tobacco is associated with an
  estimated 284 to 360 deaths from lower respiratory tract illnesses
  and fires initiated by smoking materials and with over 300 deaths
  from lower respiratory tract illnesses and fires initiated by smoking
  materials and with over 300 fire-related injuries.
• ETS is the cause of serious respiratory illness in children, including
  bronchitis, pneumonia, asthmatic episodes, new cases of asthma,
  and sudden infant death syndrome.
• At least three times as many infants die of SIDS caused by maternal smoking as are killed as a result of homicide or child abuse. The risk of SIDS (crib death) doubles for each hour a day a baby spends in a room where people smoke.
• Among American children, tobacco is associated with an estimated
  284 to 360 deaths from lower respiratory tract illnesses and fires
  initiated by smoking materials and with over 300 fire-related injuries.
• ETS causes: 14,000 to 21,000 tonsillectomies and or
  adenoidectomies; 529,000 doctor visits for asthma; 1.3 million to
  2 million visits for cough; and in children under 5 years, 260,000
  to 436,000 episodes of bronchitis and 115,000 to 190,000,000
  episodes of pneumonia.
• Among teenagers who do not smoke, 45% of them live in a home where someone else does.
• Restaurants are the most frequented public places in America.
  The average American visits a restaurant 3.5 times a week-
  every other day. Many of the patrons are young visitors, who are especially sensitive to ETS.
• Restaurants that have separate smoking and nonsmoking sections cannot eliminate the exposure to the toxins from secondhand smoke. Ventilation systems are designed to efficiently circulate air within an enclosed environment, not to filter and clean it. Trying to have a smoke-free section of a restaurant is like trying to have a chlorine-free section of a swimming pool. John Repace, OSHA/EPA, and John P. Robinson from the University of Maryland report that "hospitality industries" - waiters and service workers in restaurants, bars, and bowling alleys encounter indoor air pollution levels approaching those found in coal mines and steel

• The Center for Marine Conservation found cigarette butts to be the largest source of beach trash, representing 17 percent of all trash, in its 1995 study in 33 states.
• Fires started by cigarettes are the leading cause of fire death in the United States. Smoking and smoking materials caused 151,000 fires in buildings, vehicles, and outdoors in 1993. Those fires killed 1,029 people and injured 3,496 people (not including firefighters). One-third of the people killed and injured in cigarette-caused fires are nonsmokers, according to one estimate.
• Smoking is associated with increased rates of accidents. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health reports that workers who smoke have twice as many on-the-job accidents as workers who don't smoke.
• Several auto insurance companies have determined that their policy
  holders who smoke have up to 2.6 times as many auto accidents
  as policy holders who don't smoke.

  1. Health:

It's a known fact that tobacco smoke is dangerous. Hundreds of authorities agree tobacco smoke is a health hazard and that action needs to be taken. Among them: the National Cancer Institute, US EPA, Surgeon General, National Academy of Sciences, World Health Organization, AMA, Cancer, Heart, and Lung Associations, courts and governments throughout the nation.

2. Safety:

Fires started by cigarettes are the leading cause of fire death in the United States. Smoking and ETS also increase accidents and occupational hazards.

3. Population:

The overwhelming majority of adults don't smoke. The national average of nonsmokers is 76%.

4. Public opinion:

Studies show that almost all non smokers and the majority of people who smoke support ETS controls.

5. ETS legislation:

Approximately 200 cities and counties in 16 states have smokefree workplace ordinances and there are state laws in Maryland, California, and Washington. More than 125 local governments in 18 states have enacted smokefree restaurant legislation, as have the states of Maine, Vermont, Utah, and California. Approimately 100 local jurisdictions have mandated smokefree bars and California has statewide bar legislation. These ordinances are in place thorughout the nation in big and little cities, in rich and modest-income neighborhoods, in tourist and bedroom communities, including Mesa, Pasadena, Los Angeles, Austin, Honolulu, Boston, New Yourk City, and a number of places in North Carolina and West Virginia.

6. New Jersey's experience with legislation and policies:

Highland Park enacted smokefree workplaces and public places legislation in 1996. Secuacus, Lawrence Township,and Glassboro enacted a 100% smokefree restaurant 1999. Most large employers and hundreds of small employers have adopted smokefree policies. All the major malls are smokefree. More than a thousand restaurants (not counting chains and fast-food) are smokefree; many of them have bars.

7. Economics:

Numerous scientific studies, based on the tax returns of restaurants and bars, show no loss of income (and, in some places, increased profits) when municipalities enact smoke free air laws, even where neighboring communities have no legislation (so patrons could go to the next town).

8. Restaurants and bars:

Eating and drinking estalishments need to be included because they are among the most smoke-polluted places; restaurants are the most frequented public places; and wait staff and bartenders deserve workplace protection as much as any other employees.

9. Ventilation:

ASHRAE standards for indoor air/ventilation now recognize there are no thresholds for safe exposure to ETS.

New statewide and local public opinion polls show support by New Jerseyans for smokefree air in workplaces and restaurants.

An Eagleton Institute poll conducted in late March found that 84% of people polled think places where people work should be smokefree. Smokefree restaurants drew 68% support and when people were asked, "If you worked in a restaurant, would you want the restaurant to be smokefree?"support rose to 75%. More than 65% of people polled also said it bothered them when there was smoking or secondhand smoke near them in a restaurant.

During the spring and fall of 1999, members of C.O.S.T. took surveys of 492 people at two locations in their town. The surveys showed that 84% of those polled prefer smokefree dining.

In Ocean City, High School students in (SCAT) Student Coalition Against Tobacco asked people if they favored a city wide ordinance that would require restaurants to be smokefree. In the poll of about 180 people that took place on Jan. 8, 2000, 84% declared support for legislation requiring restaurants to be smokefree.

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) June 1994, April 1995

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Report Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking: Lung cancer and Other Disorders, January 1993)

Circulation, the Journal of the American Heart Association, January 1991

Journal of Family Practice, April 1995, Joseph DiFranza and Robert Lew, quoted in Smokefree Air Everywhere, p.16.