Cigars and Cigarettes as Health Concerns:
In the 1920s, smoking was a way of social connection, promoting vanity and sexiness. Most everyone smoked and people did not yet know the health risks associated with smoking. However, cigarette and cigar smoking has become less popular in the past years. In 2004 smoking was banned in the United States from all enclosed public places. Smoking health effects are very well known. Smoking is detrimental to our health as it can cause lung disease by destroying our air passageways and damaging the air sacs in our lungs. In fact even second hand smoke can ultimately lead to lung caner. In recent findings, the effects of cigarette and cigar smoke have parallel effects on not only our health but also the quality of air in the atmosphere.
As the Truth Initiative put it:
“Tobacco use is not only a health issue, it is also an environmental issue. Billions of cigarettes — about 267 billion in 2015 — are smoked each year in the United States. They are the most littered item in the country. The waste from cigarettes can leach toxic chemicals into the environment, leading to land, water and air pollution.”
The Facts Do Not Lie:
McLaughlin’s Experimental Findings: 4% of particulates were on average produced by car exhaust while a whopping 96% of particulates are products of a burning cigarette or cigar.
In comparison to the average cigarette or cigar, the average car or truck does not emit nearly as many pollutants into the atmosphere as a cigarette does. It is unique how cigarettes slowly kill you but quickly pollute the earth, while car exhaust quickly kills you (if breathed in directly) but slowly pollutes the earth.
The USA should focus some of the attention on creating laws against smoking. With all of the regulations on car emissions such as annual smog checks, advanced catalytic converters, HOV lanes only permitting eco friendly vehicles or carpools, smoking should be either outlawed or closely regulated similar to vehicle emissions. The next step to a healthier ecosystem starts with the individual. This however is not the easy part as we know nicotine is highly addictive.
Make a difference:
Ultimately these facts are important to your decision to save the Earth. If you think car pollution is bad, just look at the power that you have in your hand. The Truth Initiative is taking a stand against the cigars, cigarettes, and e-cigarettes to help with the growing air pollution and overall negative human health effects. Visit the website to join the fight: https://truthinitiative.org/
This was so interesting! I am not the biggest fan of the smell of cigarette smoke and I have been exposed to cigarette smoke since I was a child. My uncle was a heavy smoker and refused to smoke outside especially during the Winter. I just remembered coughing a lot whenever the house was filled with cigarette smoke and I thought it was just because I did not enjoy the smell. I agree with trying to push a “no smoking” law because of the health risks, however I am also wondering if these cigarettes can also be smuggled into the U.S. (like illegal narcotics). Furthermore, cigarette companies are pretty huge companies with lots of connections and it may be hard to fully stop them? Just some things I’ve thought about!
With the 4 and 96% numbers, are you saying that your measurements of cigarette smoke contained 24x as much particulates as your measurements of car exhaust?
Yes when comparing the two. Not all particulates are from cigarette smoke. When comparing cigarettes to car exhaust, cigarettes contribute 24x as much to pollution as the measurements of car exhaust. Yes that is what I meant.
Although the concentration of particulates may be 24 times as high, there is still the volume of exhaust to factor in. Concentration x exhaust volume = total amount of particulates from a given car or smoker.