Danger ! Avoid it ! Environment Tobacco Smoke

Environment Tobacco Smoke is often referred to as " Secondary smoke" , exposure to Environmant Tobacco Smoke is often called " Passive Smoking ". Environment Tobacco Smoke is a major source of indoor contaminants. A lit cigarette is like a chemical factory, releasing poisonous fumes into air, around half of those substances are found in the tobacco itself, the others are produced as the tobacco burns.

Tobacco smoke is chemically complex mixture of materials form as the result of incomplete combustion of the tobacco product, several thousand individual chemicals have been identified in tobacco / cigarette smoke, about 90% are organic compounds associated with the vapour (gases) or particulate phases of the cigarette smoke.
Among more than 4000 chemicals found in tobacco smoke, both as vapour or as particulate phases, many of them, about 43 chemicals are known very toxic as carcinogenic agents in lung cancer, 400 others known poisonous as toxins, these include Nicotine, Tar, Carbon-monoxide, formaldehyde, ammonia, Hydrocyanic-Acid, Arsenic, DDT etc, many of which are also strong irritants.

More detail of mixture of complex chemical compounds in tobacco smoke are as follows :

Compound : Nicotine, 17 Alkaloids, 45 Hydrocarbons, 45 Phenols, 6 tobacco specific Nitrosamines, over 450 other chemicals.

Carcinogens : 8 kinds of N-Heterocyclic-amines, Formaldehyde, Acetaldehyde, Benzo(b)fluouranthene, Benzo(j)fluouranthene, Benzo(k)fluouranthene, Benzo(a)pyrene, Benz(a)anthracene, Dibenzo(a,i)pyrene, Dibenzo(i,l)pyrene, Dibenz(a,h)anthracene, Dibenz(a,h) acridine, Dibenz(a,j)acridine, 7-H-Dibenzo(c,g)-carbazole, 2-Toluidine, 5-Methylchrysene, 4-Aminobiphenyl, Quinoline, 4-(methylnitrosamino-3-(pyridil)-1-butanone, N-Nitrosodimethylaine, N-Nitrosoethylmethylamine, N-Nitrosopyrollidine, N-Nitrosodiethanolaine, N-Nitrosoarcosine, N-nitrosonornicotine, N-Nitrosoanabasine, N-Nitrosomorpholine.

Carcinogenic Inorgaic Compounds : Hydrazine, Arsenic, Nickel, Mercury, Chromium, Cadmium, Lead /Plumbum, Polonium and Selenium.

Carcinogenic Organic Compounds : 1,1-Diethylhydrazine, 1,3-Butadiene, 2-Nitropropane, Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate, Isopropene, Furan, Bezo(b)furan, Benzene, Styrene, Vinyl-Chlorine, Acryloitrile, Acrylamide, Ethylene-oxide.

In cigarette making, various additives are also used. Additives are used for a variety of purposes like :

Glycerol, an absorbent substance is added to prevent the tobacco crumbling.

Various salt are added to give the cigarette an even burning quality.

Various Flavours like cocoa, liquorice, sugar are used to give a better taste, to give a brand of cigarette a particular taste.

Menthol is used to get cooling sensation.

Eugenol (from cloves) is added because it act as pai reducer on the ucus membranes of the throat, making cigarette smoke less irritating.

Environment Tobacco Smoke as a major source of indoor air pollutants can not be eliminated through or by general improvement of the room ventilation, higher efficiency air cleaning systems, ion generators, HEPA filter, Electronic Air Cleaners, Hybrid Air Cleaners can only remove part of tobacco smoke vapour / gaseous pollutants and airborne particulates, but not all of the whole tobacco smoke particulate compounds, so air cleaers alone are not appropriate and not adequate as well for single solution to indoor air quality problems, air cleaners are generally not designed to remove gaseous pollutants.

Indoor air pollutants particle size :

Airbore Particulates smaller than 10 micron are not visible with the naked eye.
Pet Danders : 1 - 10 microns
Household Dust : 0,02 - >10 microns
Bacteria : 0,05 - > 10 microns
Tobacco Smoke : 0,005 - 2 microns
Viruses : 0,002 - 0,02 microns
Pollutant Particles smaller than 0,5 microns can not be settled, they always stay in the air as airbone particulates.

Common Particles and Their Sizes in Microns
The average home collects about 2 pounds of dust per week!
Particles are commonly measured in microns, a metric unit of measure. There are 25,400 microns in one inch. Common Items and their respective particle sizes:
Human Hair : 40 to 300 microns
Fertilizer : 10 to 1000 microns
Tobacco Smoke : 0.01 to 1 microns
Coal Dust : 1 to 100 microns
Mold Spores : 10 to 30 microns
Pollens : 10 to 1000 microns
Typical Atmospheric Dust : 0.001 to 30 microns

- Visible particles constitute only about 10% of indoor air!
- Particle visibility depends on the eye itself. In other words, light intensity and quality, background and particle type.
- Particles on furniture and those in a shaft of light are approximately 50 microns or larger.
- It may be possible to see particles as small as 10 microns under favorable conditions.

The majority of harmful particles are 3 microns or less in size.
Particles of 1 micron or less adhere to surfaces by molecular adhesion. Scrubbing is generally the only way to remove them, larger particles tend to settle out of the atmosphere due to weight, smaller, "respirable" particles remain virtually suspended in the air until breathed in.

Approximately 98-99% of all particles by count are in the size range of 5 microns or less. These particles tend to remain in suspension or settle out so slowly that only quality electronic air cleaners and HEPA air cleaners are effective in removing these particles.
The average person breathes in about 16,000 quarts of air per day. Each quart contains some 70,000 visible and invisible particles. That's over a billion particles per day that our lungs have to filter out!

Ion Generator may remove small particles but they do not remove gaseous or odourants, Ozone Generator which produce ozone can reduce odourants, but the level needed to achieve this effect is above those generally thought to be safe for humans, FDA has set a limit of 0,05 ppm ozone for medical devices.
Ozone Generator eliminates the irritation caused by phenol gasses, by oxidazing them, phenol gasses are the invisible part of tobacco smoke that causes such discomfort to eyes and creat the offensive odours, ozone rids any evironment of the effects of smoke completely.
Ozone Generator works better than Ionizer or air filter for removing smoke and smoke odour.

To achieve a better healthy life, How to reduce exposure of Environment Tobacco Smoke ?
1. Do not smoke at homes, offices, inside building, smoke outdoor or in special separate smoke area room.
2. If smoking indoor can not be avoided, use effective exhaust fan.
3. Do not smoke if infants, children or toddlers are present.
4. Stay far from everybody who is smoking.