Let's Get The Facts
Why We Need to Be A Smoke-free America
-
No one should have to choose between their health and their job. Everyone has the right the right to breathe smoke-free air at work.
-
The science is clear: there is no safe level of secondhand smoke exposure.
-
Secondhand smoke is an occupational hazard for many workers including casino, restaurant, bar, and hotel employees.
-
Service employees, along with musicians and entertainers, breathe more secondhand smoke while at work than any other type of employee, and suffer from the same illnesses as smokers.
-
Blue Collar employees are less likely than white-collar indoor workers to be covered by smoke-free polices.
-
The Dangers of Secondhand Smoke Exposure
-
Secondhand smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals. Hundreds are toxic and about 70 can cause cancer. Secondhand smoke causes lung cancer in adults who have never smoked.
-
Secondhand smoke causes nearly 42,000 deaths, including more than 3,000 lung cancer deaths among nonsmoking adults each year.
-
Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke at work increase their risk of developing lung cancer by 20–30%.
-
Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke are inhaling many of the same cancer-causing substances as smokers.
-
Breathing secondhand smoke can have immediate adverse effects on your blood and blood vessels, increasing the risk of having a heart attack.
-
People who already have heart disease are at especially high risk of suffering adverse effects from breathing secondhand smoke and should take special precautions to avoid even brief exposures.
