Essay on Secondhand Smoke: Facts and Effects is published for informational purposes only. The free papers are not written by our writers, they are contributed by users, so we are not responsible for the content of this free sample paper. If you want to buy a quality Essay on Essay on Secondhand Smoke: Facts and Effects at affordable prices please use our essay writing services offered by EssayEmpire.

According to the U.S. Surgeon General, secondhand smoke, also known as "passive smoking" or "environmental tobacco smoke" causes disease and premature death for nonsmoking adults and children, because tobacco smoke contains toxic chemicals that increase health risks. With it widely recognized as harmful to an individual's personal health, smoking now constitutes a universal public health risk.

The U.S. Department of Human Services reports that nicotine is detectible in 43 percent of the nation's nonsmokers. It also notes the exposure of almost 22 million children to secondhand smoke. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Toxicology Program, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) all identify passive smoking as a "known human carcinogen" (cancer-causing agent). Other health risks include asthma, stunted growth, coronary heart disease, and lung cancer.

Even brief exposure could detrimentally affect an individual's health. The American Lung Association states that secondhand smoke causes approximately 3,400 lung cancer deaths and 22,700-69,000 heart disease deaths among U.S. adult nonsmokers. These claims offer support to policymakers who want smoking bans, concerned workers in establishments where smoking is prevalent, and politicians who respond to public concerns. While support keeps growing for tobacco control policies, many individuals and establishments nonetheless oppose antismoking legislation.

Takeshi Hirayama published the first study that examined the relationship between passive smoking and lung cancer in 1981, concluding that wives of heavy smokers were more likely to develop lung cancer than wives of nonsmokers. This discovery spurred an increase in scientific research on secondhand smoke in the following decades. While many scientists supported Hirayama's conclusions, others countered his claim. The most notable opponents were those funded by the tobacco industry and related businesses.

Scientific findings often gained attention through news media. The sustained interest in secondhand smoke remained in media headlines following claims proposed by nonsmokers' rights groups such as Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights (ANR), the U.S. Surgeon General, and other advocates, in conjunction with counterclaims made by the tobacco industry. While scientific discoveries had an impact on public interest in secondhand smoke as a social problem, it was the media that often transmitted these discoveries, especially from the proliferation of conflicting claims. The argument of secondhand smoke as a public health issue convinced employees of smoking establishments as well as the general public that passive smoking posed a serious health risk. Shortly thereafter, they persuaded policymakers to take legal action against smoking in public places.

Despite the general public's contribution to tobacco control policies, many rejected the scientific findings and did not support public smoking bans. Antagonists presented their opinions through legal, moral, and economic frameworks. First, smokers were upset by bans because they believe smoking is a First Amendment right. Second, establishments that depend on a high proportion of smoking clientele argued that their businesses would suffer from the legal restriction. Similarly, the tobacco industry also fought smoking bans on grounds it would hurt their industry.

In particular, the tobacco industry challenged a 1993 report issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stating that 3,000 lung cancer deaths result from passive smoking each year. This report encouraged many private establishments and communities to pass smoking bans. Representatives of tobacco companies claimed that EPA manipulated scientific findings by selecting only cases that supported their hypothesis. In 1998, U.S. District Court Judge William Osteen sided with the tobacco industry, declaring that EPA did not follow accepted scientific procedures. Nonetheless, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit overturned this decision in 2002 on technical grounds.

Bibliography:

1) Hirayama, Takeshi. 1981. "Non-Smoking Wives of Heavy Smokers Have a Higher Risk of Lung Cancer: A Study from Japan." British Medical Journal 282:183-85.

2) Levy, David T., Frank Chaloupka, and Joseph Gitchell. 2004. "The Effects of Tobacco Control Policies on Smoking Rates: A Tobacco Control Scorecard." Journal of Public Health Management Practice 10(4):338-53.

3) Malone, Ruth E., Elizabeth Boyd, and Lisa Bero. 2000. "Science in the News: Journalists' Construction of Passive Smoking as a Social Problem." Social Studies in Science 30:713-35.

4) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2006. "The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General."

Free essays are not written to satisfy your specific instructions. You can order a term paper, research paper or custom TOPIC at our site which offers professional essay writing services. Get your high quality custom paper at relatively cheap prices. EssayEmpire is the best solution for those who seek help in essay writing related to TOPIC and other relevant topics.