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In one hour - even in a ventilated room
- created carbon monoxide levels or 20
p.p.m. In the seat next to the smoker, the
leve! shot up to
90
p.p.m.. almost twfce
the maXImum set for lndustry. Smoking
ten cigarettes In an enclosed car also
produced carbon monoxide levels up to
90
p.p.m. The carbon monoxide leve! in
the blood of nonsmokers as well as
smokers in the car doubles.
"When nonsmokers were exposed to
these levels, the carbon monoxide leve!
In thelr blood not
oniy
doubled within the
first hour, but doubled agaln
d~rlng
the
second hour.
"When nonsmokers léave a smoky en–
vlronment, lt takes hours lor the ca¡bon
monoxide to leave the body. Unllke
oxy–
gen which is breathed In and then out
again In minutes. carbon m.onoxlde In ttie
bfood lasts for houf's. After three or tour
hours, half of the excess carbon
monox~
Ide ls stlllln the bloodstream."
Summarizing a fewother facts from the
painphlet: the concentratlon In clgaJette
smoke of hydrogen cyanide, a poison
that attacks respiratory enzymes, ls
1600
p.p.m. Levels above
10
p.p.m. are consid·
ered dangerous. Cigarette smoke con–
talns 250 p.p.m. of nllrogen dioxide, an
acutely lrrltating gas that can damage
lungs. Flve p.p.m. ls dangerous.
Resea.rch shows a slgniflcant lncrease
ol bronchltis, emphysema, and lung tu–
mors In animals exposed to secondhand
smoke.
And finaJiy,
as
if mercury In your tuna,
sulphates In your water and pesticidas In
your lettuce were not enough, here·s one
more thing to worry about: cadmlum.
Ac–
cordíng to Health Column No.
226
(April
14, 1974):
"Only minute amounts of cad·
mium. a metal poi.sonous in high
concen–
trp.tlons, are lnhaled with one cígarette.
But the metal bullds up in the body in
almost direct proportlon to the number of
clgarettes smoked. Not only does it accu–
mutate In the Jungs but some of
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also
passes on to the liver and kidneys, where
it mounts up more. Autopsies on emphy·
serna patients show excess levels of cad–
mium in all three organs
. .. .
"In addition, there are disturbing lmpll–
cations for nonsmokers. Some research
has shown there is even more cadmlum
In the smoke that drlfts off the burnlng
end of the cigarette than in the drag the
smoker Inhales."
·
According to·the G.A.S.P. people, cad–
mium stays in your lungs
lorever,
no mat·
ter how little you inhale. (Let's hope that
'the tobacco companies don't getwlnd of
thls, or the next thing you know we·n be
seelng advertisernents for Pullo brand re–
cessed, micronite, charcoal, cadmlum–
trap filler cigarettes. Come to think of it,
lt
míght be interestlng. Slnce there is more
cadmium in the sídestream smoke -
smoke from the burníng end - than in
the mainstr.eam smoke lnhaled by the
smoker, the filler would have to be on the
burning endt)
The case against tobacco smoke - the
lacts, the statlstics, the proof - could go
on endlessly. But1or fear that your head
may be beginnlng to nod rlght about
here, l'd best end this sectlon by saying
the only good thlng that can be said
about tobacco: lt keeps doctors em–
ployed.
"What smells so? Has somebody been
burning
a
rag.
or
ls !here a dead mu/e
in
!he
backyard? No, the
man
is smoking
a
live-cent cigar.
··
- Eugene F/eld
"The Tribune Primer." 1882.
WEEK ENDINO NOVEMBER l, 197S
Someone once sald: "What this coun–
try
needs is a good five..cent clgar." What
thls country really needs. of course. is a
good
ftve--cent nickel.
Speaking for non–
smokers everywhere,
lf
all clgars were
dumped i nto the o.cean. it would be
so
much better for humans and
so
much
worse for the fish .
Of all smokers· lrespasses. probably
nothing is
as
annoying to nonsmokers
as
clgar smoke. The next time you are in the
presence of a person
smo~ing
a dead
rriule,
1
mean a cigar, what can you. do?
lf
you can get clase enough to the person
without falnting, you might polttely and
klndly quote a few facts from the Ameri–
can Lung Associatlon: Cigar smoke is
even more lrrltatlng to the eyes. nose,
throat and breathíng passages than clga–
rette sl'noke;
it
has higher levels
ot
dam·
aging chemlcal compounds llke phenol
and benzo (a) pyrene. etc.
lf thls doesn't gel results - remember
lt's tough for hlm to pul a Murlel down -
walk up to him (or her) and calmly but
· ffrmly say: "You, sir (madam), are pollut–
ing
my
alr." l've been told thls works best
when standing on the smoker's foot, but
1
personally wouldn't want to recommend
thís. Some have even suggested gr8ll–
bing a fire extlnguisher
if
one ls handy.
Such harsh action shouldn't be neces–
sary,
·ot
course. Most smokers are not
blatant miscreants (lt only seems
so);
if
you tell them ihe smoke bothers you. they
aJmost always wlll refrain.
"A
custom /oathsome
lo
the eye. hermful
lo
the braln. dangerous to the lungs ...•
He-reln is not only
a
great vanlty, but a
great contempt of
God's
good gifts, that
the sweetness of man's breath, be/ng
a
good gift of
God,
should
be
wilfulfy cor–
rupted ·by thls stinklng
smoke."
-James 1ofEngland
"Counterblast
to
Tobacco," 1604
lf
you are a nonsmoker. here ls one
stratagem you mlght want to
try.
(King
James would have approved of
lt.)
The
next time a human smokestack - puff,
puf!, puf!- sits Clown beslde you with a lit
c igarette, whip out a three-by-five card
from your pocket, take a deep breath (no,
1
guess
you
can't take a deep breath
n
he's smoking), and begin reading: "Par–
don me, would you mlnd blowing your
hydroquínone. methacroleln, methyl al–
cohol. methylamlne, niokel compounds.
pyrldine, carbon dloxide, crotonomitríle,
dimethylamine, endrin, ethy1amine, furfu–
ral, cadmium. carbon monoxide, methyl
nltrlte, ammonla. formaldehyde. hydro–
gen sulfide, benzo(a)pyrene. nicotina,
DDT, ethane. acetylene, methanol, nitro–
gen díoxíde, acetone. methyl chloride,
phenol. cresot. methane. isoprene, pro–
pane. acroleln, acetaldehyde, ethylene.
methyl ethyl ketone, "tar," hydrogen cy–
anide, metals, hydrocyanlc acld, nltric ox–
Ide. acetonltrlle. acrylonitrlle, benzene
2.3.
butadione. and butytamine in the
other dlrection?" (Better yet, ask hlm to
extingulsh lt completely!)
Thls ls even more effectlve when rt ls
memorizad. Either way, the smoker will
be momentarity stunned. You will have a
chance to explain t hat, believe
~
or not,
these are just
some
of the noxlous ingre–
dients comlng from the burning end of
hls clgarette, all of whlch are harmfut to
your health, well-being and present men–
tal equanlmlty.
lf
you use this techníque. be tore–
warned you wlll undoubtedly get a repu–
tatlon for belng sorne klnd of nut. But
(Continuad on m;xt page)
VfHUz~¡
SNo~r.t
couS~!
- co~úti
t
9UFF!
Gf\SP!
l>R11G
tcuc.\1!
HRCVAPH!
Pqh'/
~1\EE'Z.E\
touG\\~
SNORT!
"You'd never get me to move tlack to the city.
CIGARETTE
FILTER
OEPARI'MENT
That smog w·as killing me! "
"Forget about the weight! Just remember that
you're using the best filter money can buy!"
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