CHOKE on this!

Cigarettes Worse for Air Than Cars

Ivanhoe Newswire
www.ivanhoe.com
September 1, 2004

Holy smoke! The air pollution emitted by cigarettes may be 10-times greater
than diesel car exhaust.

Investigators hope the negative comparison can be a valuable educational
message against tobacco use for adolescents.

Environmental tobacco smoke produces fine particulate matter, the most
dangerous element of air pollution. According to the new study, levels
indoors can far exceed those outdoors because new engine models and
lead-free fuels have cut the levels of particulate matter emissions from car
exhausts.

The study was conducted in a garage in a small, Italian mountain town where
there are very low levels of particulate matter air pollution. A turbo
diesel engine was left idling for 30 minutes in the garage with the doors
closed. Then, the doors were left open for four hours. The car was fueled
with low sulphur fuel. Three filter cigarettes were also lit up
sequentially, and left smoldering for another 30 minutes.

Results of the experiment show the diesel engine exhaust doubled the
particulate matter levels found outdoors at its peak.

The environmental tobacco smoke particulate matter reached levels 15-times
higher than those measured outdoors.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by
e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to:

http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: Tobacco Control, 2004;13:219-221

 

Let me light up a cigarette before I read the article.

The sad part is that smokers (myself included) KNOW that cigarettes have
very dire consequences on ones health. Creating yet another study
proving that won't help. Educating adolescents is the only solution to
smoking, because they are the most vulnerable to peer pressure and other
influences. That seems to be the reason behind this study, and I hope it
works, because not starting to smoke is so much easier than trying to quit.

I think I tried 10 times to quit, including cold turkey, the patch and
the chewing gum and nothing worked. The only thing I found reduced the
number of cigarettes I smoked was keeping myself busy. My record was 3
cigarettes in one day, and that was because I had to completely
reassemble my old Yamaha RZ350 before a trip (I had the engine, carbs,
front end, swing arm and brakes rebuilt, and needed to put everything
back together).

Cosmin

 

Hope peer pressure does not lead to teenage girls leaving lipstick marks on
the exhaust pipe of their VW Cabriolet TDI's.

 

"The study was conducted in a garage in a small, Italian mountain town"

Another unbiased report brought to you by Tobacco Control.

Now I got a tell ya., I don't smoke, but these so called reports brought
to you by Tobacco Control and a bunch more are so obvious that it makes
one laugh.
--

 

Coming up next...

Terrorism, wars, whacko jacko, the Bush'er, the folks
at Enron, and Martha Stewart... ALL caused by tobacco.

 

ROFL!

Natalie, never-a-smoker

 

I used to think smokers who couldn't quit were just copping out. That was
until I worked in an OB/Gyn clinic! Those women would be terrified that
their babies would be affected, but were able to eat right, exercise, and
everything we told them they needed to do, but often could *not* stop
smoking. It was then that I realized what a powerful addiction cigarette
smoking is - wow!

Natalie

 

Sorry to hear that. I tried filters, patches, training programs, but
none worked for me. One day, it came down to that I couldn't afford
college for my wife, and my 3 pack/day habit. I said I had to quit
and I did. I promised myself I would start back up when I could
afford it, but that was 10+ years ago. Now with a mortgage and a
child, I"m guessing I'll have to remain smoke-free, but I do enjoy the
smell now and then.

Everyone who says they can't just doesn't want to.

imho,

tom @ www.ChopURL.com

 

I think it's a lot like other addictions, such as food - some people haven't
been able to lose weight by any methods, which is tougher because you don't
need cigarettes to survive (just the opposite, of course), but you need food
to live. I saw a lady on a documentary who had dropped well over 200 pounds.
She began to go insane; not from temptation, but because her body reacted as
though it were starving! She became psychotic and very ill. She ended up
gaining the weight back, and in doing so, regained her sanity. Isn't that
nuts?! For smokers, they see others lighting up, which is even more powerful
than an obese person walking by a restaurant and resisting the temptation to
chow down. Personally, I usually was slightly overweight, but not morbidly
so. Then my blood pressure went up, which woke me up to the reality that my
heart was being affected. I decided I'd rather not be a sick old lady some
day (I'm now 46), so I had to drop the weight and get in shape. I exercise
no less than 30 minutes every single day, and have never regretted it.

By the way, the bargain that you made for your body should be reneged.
Please believe me when I say you'll be so much more healthy without
cigarettes. What people don't realize is that while lung cancer is
relatively rare (I've only seen a handful of cases in 28 years), smoking does
a lot of damage in other ways, such as COPD (emphysema - folks on home oxygen
because their lungs have shriveled and hardened to the point of no
elasticity), not to mention heart attacks and strokes. Plus they're very
expensive! My mother-in-law, a Nazi death camp survivor smokes (I can't say
I blame her after what she went through), and while we lived in New Hampshire
(She lives in Massachusetts) she'd ask if I'd buy her cigarettes either in NH
(They're quite a bit cheaper there) or at Westover AFB in Chicopee, MA. I
told her that while I know she won't stop smoking because I refuse to buy
them for her, I could not in good conscience do that for her, because that
would be like handing a syringe to a heroin addict. I can't be a party to
her slow suicide. My husband used to get them for her, and I didn't chastise
him for it, because I knew he just wanted to do what he can to help his mom
be content. I just couldn't do it myself, and she (thankfully) understands
that. But she's so awesome anyway, she'd naturally not cop an attitude. The
woman's incredible, and I wish she could stop so we could have her on this
planet longer.

Natalie, former food junkie - or is that junk-food junkie? ;-)

 

I often wonder why there is even a mention of making marijuana legal,
while in the same breath they try to eliminate cigarette smoking. Seems
to me they are both bad for health.

I had a chance to sit in a 04 Camry today. It's a really nice
automobile.
--

 

Yeah, but when you're as desperate as my friend Mick - who has been
known to snort a line of salt from the edge of the bar - then a joint
is not such a bad thing.

 

They are, but like so many things, money is a factor. Most people can't or
wouldn't grow their own tobacco, but they'd certainly grow their own weed.
The government would have a very hard time taxing and overseeing such a
plant.

How dare you talk about cars! What do you think these are, car newsgroups?!

Oh yeah.

;-)

Natalie

 

Gawd, that reminds me of that scene from Cheech and Chong's 'Up In Smoke'
when that whacked-out chick snorted cleaning powder (I think it was Ajax
cleanser).

Natalie

 

On cold days I walk at our mall. I spoke with a lady one morning who
has diabetes. She told me that she started a vigorous walking regime
some time ago and after a while she was able to shed ALL of her
medications. One more reason for exercise.

--

 

Amen!

Natalie

 

The 'report' makes a great spoon to stir the soup. Some tasted it! LOL

 

And exactly what does this have to do with Acura
automobiles....................ie this newsgroup?

 

Yup, nicotine addiction is as powerful as heroin addiction. If anyone is
interested in this, check out the chapter "Nicotine as an addicting drug"
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/cu/CU25.html from "The
Consumers Union Report - Licit and Illicit Drugs"
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/cu/cumenu.htm

 

1) Did this woman lose too much too quickly?

2) My wife smokes only sporadically and then not much, but I have refused
to buy her duty-free cigs (I travel a lot) on same grounds.


DAS
--
For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

[...]

[...]

 

On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 19:37:22 -0500,

A different take to help put things in perspective.

My brother a smoker since his teens tried to stop using every method,
patch, gum, hypnosis, cold turkey 3+ times, behavior modification and
then Zyban.

Zyban was amazingly effective for him. After the second day on the
product he couldn't even light up it made him feel so ill. He was so
happy that he'd finally found something that worked.

It did have some "minor" side effects, he couldn't sleep, felt
jittery & he had tremors. He was on Zyban for about 2 months before
he committed suicide at 38 (the first ever in our family). A doctor
had prescribed Zyban and monitored the dose.

Then there's my wife's aunt.

She smoked from her early teens till she died this past fall at 75.
she was active, smoked 2 packs a day & her non-smoking husband is
still alive, active and doing fine. However neither one of them is or
were overweight.

Tobacco is not healthy. But for some trying to quit may be too much.
I smoked for a year & then quit. But it was easy for me. Not so for
others.


Using that stat posted in the article I think that it's high time that
we get the good Diesels here in North America. Including the new 2005
GTi Turbo Diesel. Ban Fast food & use the cooking oil for the fast
Turbo Diesel's.

More sub 7 sec 0-60, 140+ MPH Diesels I say !