Reading Reaction Journal #4

Editorial: Smoking kills

Carcinogens in cigarette smoke hang around indoors like a bad smell - we know that. What we didn't realize until now is that nicotine residues absorbed on indoor surfaces (carpets, wallpaper etc) react with gases in the air to produce even more cancer-causing carcinogens.

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According to the World Health Organization, tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world. It is responsible for the death of one in 10 adults, killing 5.4 million people annually. Furthermore, if current patterns continue, smoking is predicted to kill 8 million people per year by 2030.

So what is the significance of this new discovery? Desorption of carcinogenic tobacco-specific nitrosamines or TSNAs (originating from cigarette smoke) from indoor surfaces, a process coined 'third-hand smoke', was already known to be an additional source of exposure to these toxins. The new research has shown, for the first time, that nicotine residues absorbed on surfaces can react with atmospheric species, such as nitrous acid - providing another source of TSNAs.

Children in smoking households are of particular concern, because they interact very differently with their surroundings to adults: touching and licking surfaces and fabrics. It has been estimated that their exposure to third-hand smoke could be up to 20 times higher than adults. The new findings make the situation for these children look even bleaker.

In light of this discovery and its potential impact in children, is there something that could or should be done differently? During the last decade, governments around the globe have made the fight against smoking one of their main public health priorities. The EU has tackled the issue of smoking prevention and cessation from many different fronts. A series of schemes, such as 'Help - for a life without tobacco', designed to raise awareness and educate the public in the dangers of smoking have been run. All tobacco advertising and sponsorship on television has been banned since 1991, and in 2005 this was extended to cover other forms of media. More importantly, legislation has been implemented to limit exposure to second-hand smoke in public places and the workplace.

These measures are working, but can we go a step further to protect the public against this newly found threat? This would mean regulating what people do in private. Governments can protect people in public places, but they haven't got the mechanisms to protect those exposed in the home or in the car. Surely that would be intrusive, impossible to police and simply completely unrealistic. So to the question 'can we implement smoking bans at home?' I'm afraid my answer is no.

Instead we must continue to work at reducing the human impact of smoking through educating people, raising awareness, offering support mechanisms to those who'd like to quit smoking and finding novel ways to discourage those who are thinking of taking it up. Slowly but surely we must succeed in eradicating a problem that continues to plague the developed world and will certainly become a serious concern in the developing world in the coming decades.

References
Seijo, B. C. (2010). Editorial: Smoking kills. Chemistry World, Retrieved April 26, 2010, from http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/Issues/2010/March/Editorial.asp

Vocabulary
Carcinogens: a substance that can cause cancer (= a serious illness that causes tissues and cells to grow too quickly)
Nicotine: a poisonous chemical found in tobacco
Residues: something that is left after the main part is no longer present
Toxins: a poisonous substance, esp. one that is produced by bacteria and causes disease
Interact: to communicate with or react to each other
Bleak: (esp. of a place or the weather) cold and not welcoming
Cessation: the ending of a condition or the stopping of an activity
Banned: to forbid (someone) from doing something or (something) from being done
Legislation: a law or set of laws that is being created
Mechanisms: a way of doing something, esp. one that is planned or part of a system
Eradicating: to get rid of or destroy (something) completely
Intrusive: If something or someone is intrusive, they become involved in things which should be private.


Summary
We know that carcinogens in cigarette smoke have a bad smell, but we don’t know nicotine is absorbed on indoor surfaces, and it will make more cancer-causing carcinogens with gases. The World Health Organization announced that tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world. Every year 5.4 million people will be killed by one in ten adults, who smoke cigarettes. The author thinks it kill 8 million people per year by 2030 if current patterns keep on. There is a process coined 'third-hand smoke’; we know it to be an additional source of exposure to these toxins, which are nitrosamines or TSNAs, and will react with atmospheric species. Children in smoking households could have up to 20 times higher could than to touch 'third-hand smoke’ because they always touch and lick surfaces. Because of this discovery, a lot of governments have tackled the issue of smoking prevention and cessation from many different fronts. They also use some rule to limit exposure to second-hand smoke in public places and the workplace. The author says “they haven’t got the mechanisms to protect those exposed in the home or in the air”, so it still is a problem. He hopes people can teach their children not to touch cigarettes, and he suggests that government may set some support mechanisms to make quitting smoking an institution. If we don’t solve this problem, it will become a serious concern in the developing world in the coming decades.
Reaction
This article talks about how a few cigarettes can make people to die. Some smoke can be absorbed by indoor surfaces, which is a big problem because the smoke which has lots of carcinogens can make children who never smoke cigarettes should die. When we cast light on the discovery and its potential impact on children, people should pay attention to the children. However, the governments cannot stop the problem from spreading all over the world, and there are even some governments which set some policy to deal with 'third-hand smoke’ or ‘second-hand smoke’, consequently, there is no influence on smoking people. Smoking is not only no good for people who smoke, but also it is not good for people who live with them. This article lets me know that 'third-hand smoke’ or ‘second-hand smoke’s harm is more than that of people who smoke cigarettes. I think the schools have duty to teach students the smoke is not good; at the same time, in the home, parents need to tell them again. To solve the smoke problem is not easy, and no matter how much scientists research how to cure cancer, why are they still not successful? Because people produce the cancer in their body by themselves, scientists just can find few ways to cure nature cancer (which just happens a in the cell in the nature ways). If human beings want live a long time on the earth, we need a loving life, which is not to harm you or even to harm others.