Current Bylaw - Cooperators can smoke within there unit. Proposed New Bylaw - Make the entire Seaview Terrace building a smoke free place, including within the cooperators unit. Here are some facts about Secondhand Smoke: Secondhand smoke (SHS) is also known as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). SHS is a mixture of 2 forms of smoke that come from burning tobacco: - Sidestream smoke – the smoke that comes from the end of a lighted cigarette, pipe, or cigar and - Mainstream smoke – the smoke that is exhaled by a smoker Even though we think of these as the same, they aren’t. The sidestream smoke has higher concentrations of cancer-causing agents (carcinogens) than the mainstream smoke. And, it contains smaller particles than mainstream smoke, which make their way into the body’s cells more easily. When non-smokers are exposed to SHS it is called involuntary smoking or passive smoking. Non-smokers who breathe in SHS take in nicotine and other toxic chemicals just like smokers do. The more SHS you are exposed to, the higher the level of these harmful chemicals in your body. Secondhand smoke causes cancer Secondhand smoke is classified as a “known human carcinogen” (cancer-causing agent) by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the US National Toxicology Program, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a branch of the World Health Organization. Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemical compounds; SHS contains more than 7,000. More than 250 of these chemicals are known to be harmful, and more than 60 are known to cause cancer. SHS has been linked to lung cancer. There is also some evidence suggesting it may be linked with childhood leukemia and cancers of the larynx (voice box), pharynx (throat), brain, bladder, rectum, stomach, and breast. Where is secondhand smoke a problem? - At home Making your home smoke-free may be one of the most important things you can do for the health of your family. Any family member can develop health problems related to SHS. Children’s growing bodies are especially sensitive to the poisons in SHS. Asthma, lung infections, and ear infections are more common in children who are around smokers. Some of these problems can be serious and even life-threatening. Others may seem like small problems, but they add up quickly – think of the expenses, time for doctor visits, medicines, lost school time, and often lost work time for the parent who must stay home with a sick child. Think about it: we spend more time at home than anywhere else. A smoke-free home protects your family, your guests, and even your pets. Multi-unit housing where smoking is allowed is a special concern and a subject of research. Tobacco smoke can move through air ducts, wall and floor cracks, elevator shafts, and along crawl spaces to contaminate apartments on other floors, even those that are far from the smoke. SHS smoke cannot be controlled with ventilation, air cleaning, or by separating smokers from non-smokers. Secondhand smoke and breast cancer Whether SHS increases the risk of breast cancer is an issue that is still being studied. Both mainstream and SHS contain about 20 chemicals that, in high concentrations, cause breast cancer in rodents. And we know that in humans, chemicals from tobacco smoke reach breast tissue and are found in breast milk. But a link between SHS and breast cancer risk in human studies is still being debated. This is partly because breast cancer risk has not been shown to be increased in active smokers. One possible explanation for this is that tobacco smoke may have different effects on breast cancer risk in smokers and in those who are exposed to SHS. A report from the California Environmental Protection Agency in 2005 concluded that the evidence regarding SHS and breast cancer is “consistent with a causal association” in younger women. This means the SHS acts as if it could be a cause of breast cancer in these women. The 2006 US Surgeon General’s report, The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke, found that there is “suggestive but not sufficient” evidence of a link at this point. Research is still being done, but women should be told that this possible link to breast cancer is yet another reason to avoid being around SHS. Secondhand smoke causes other kinds of diseases and deaths Secondhand smoke can cause harm in many ways. Each year in the United States alone, it is responsible for: An estimated 46,000 deaths from heart disease in people who are current non-smokers About 3,400 lung cancer deaths as a result of breathing SHS Worse asthma and asthma-related problems in up to 1 million asthmatic children Between 150,000 and 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections in children under 18 months of age, and lung infections resulting in 7,500 to 15,000 hospitalizations each year Surgeon General’s reports: Findings on smoking, secondhand smoke, and health Since 1964, 30 separate US Surgeon General’s reports have been written to make the public aware of the health issues linked to tobacco and SHS. The ongoing research used in these reports continues to support the fact that tobacco and SHS are linked to serious health problems that could be prevented. The reports have highlighted many important findings on SHS, such as: SHS kills children and adults who don’t smoke. SHS causes disease in children and in adults who don’t smoke. Exposure to SHS while pregnant increases the chance that a woman will have a spontaneous abortion, still-born birth, low birth- weight baby, and other pregnancy and delivery problems. Chemicals in tobacco smoke damage sperm which might reduce fertility and harm fetal development. SHS is known to damage sperm in animals, but more studies are needed to find out its effects in humans. Babies and children exposed to SHS are at an increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), acute respiratory infections, ear infections, and more severe and frequent asthma attacks. Smoking by parents can cause wheezing, coughing, bronchitis, and pneumonia, and slow lung growth in their children. SHS immediately affects the heart, blood vessels, and blood circulation in a harmful way. Over time it can cause heart disease, strokes, and heart attacks. SHS causes lung cancer in people who have never smoked. Even brief exposure can damage cells in ways that set the cancer process in motion. There is no safe level of exposure to SHS. Any exposure is harmful. Many millions of Americans, both children and adults, are still exposed to SHS in their homes and workplaces despite a great deal of progress in tobacco control. On average, children are exposed to more SHS than non-smoking adults. The only way to fully protect non-smokers from exposure to SHS indoors is to prevent all smoking in that indoor space or building. Separating smokers from non-smokers, cleaning the air, and ventilating buildings cannot keep non-smokers from being exposed to SHS.