Tobacco smoke is a major component of indoor air pollution. Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is prevalent worldwide despite growing awareness of its adverse health effects on non-smokers. ETS contains the same toxic substances as identified in mainstream tobacco smoke. Cotinine (a metabolite of nicotine) can be measured in urine and serum of non-smokers exposed to ETS and reflects ...

This manuscript examines the public policy importance of 1993, United States Department of Health and Human Services actions to require doctors and hospitals to report a new external cause of injury code or E-code for environmental tobacco smoke related to causes of death such as lung cancer and severe heart disease. Methods included a qualitative archival analysis of all previously internal to...

Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) among individuals who have never smoked tobacco products has been well established as a risk factor for lung cancer. Most of the epidemiologic evidence for this association has come from studies of exposure to a spouse who smokes. Fewer studies have explicitly evaluated this risk relationship for workplace sources of ETS exposure. These are reviewed...

The General Law for Tobacco Control, signed in February 2008, aims to protect the Mexican population against the negative effects associated with tobacco consumption and to guarantee the non-smoker's rights to live and relate in 100% smoke-free environments. The Law supports the development of smoke-free areas, but it also allows for indoor smoking areas. The present essay examines the Law and ...

Cardiovascular disease is the main cause of death in Sweden and other developed countries. The purpose of this thesis is to assess the role of certain environmental factors in the etiology of cardiovascular disease, expressed as hypertension and myocardial infarction, focusing on aircraft noise, environmental tobacco smoke, drinking water hardness, and ambient air pollution. The thesis is based...

BACKGROUND Tobacco smoking, passive smoking, and indoor air pollution from biomass fuels have been implicated as risk factors for tuberculosis (TB) infection, disease, and death. Tobacco smoking and indoor air pollution are persistent or growing exposures in regions where TB poses a major health risk. We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis to quantitatively assess the association be...

RATIONALE Inhaled side-stream tobacco smoke brings in all of its harmful components impairing mechanisms that protect the airways and lungs. Chronic respiratory health consequences are a complex multi-step silent process. By the time clinical manifestations require medical attention, several structural and functional changes have already occurred. The respiratory system has to undergo an iterat...

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The prevalence of tobacco use and its associated mortality is increasing worldwide. Biomarkers in saliva, such as thiocyanate levels, have been shown to be a suitable indicator for smoking. The present study is conducted to determine the thiocyanate levels in saliva and compare them among tobacco (smoking and smokeless) users, passive smoker...

Tobacco consumption in multiple forms presents an emerging, significant and growing threat to the health of Indian adolescents, especially those from low socio-economic communities. Research in two phases was undertaken among economically disadvantaged adolescents in two urban slums of Delhi. In phase I, qualitative research methods such as focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were u...