Smoke Gets in Your Eyes- Deal With It
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
With the Senate's passing of SB648, Indoor Clean Air Act, logic would have you believe that we would now work to clean up the other things that are harmful to us, and that as individuals we have no control over. I have compiled a list so that we can get started today!
New Car Smell - Researchers in Australia say the smell of new cars can be toxic and can even cause cancer. A two-year study by an Australian government research organization found gases from vinyl and plastic materials in new cars cause headaches, nausea and drowsiness. The chemicals involved include benzene - a known cancer-causing agent - which was found in one case at five times the recommended exposure limit.Wood Stoves - Women in developing countries who cook over a wood stove for years and inhale the smoke can develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and experience the same clinical characteristics, diminished quality of life and increased mortality rates as tobacco smokers. These findings from a Mexican study appear in the second issue for February 2006 of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society.
Perfume - Fragrances can enter the body through the nose by inhalation, the mouth by ingestion, or the skin by absorption. Fragrance chemicals can affect the lungs, nose, skin, eyes, and brain. Studies have shown that shortness of breath or asthma-like symptoms have been caused by fragrances. Most of the fragrance chemicals consist of volatile organic compounds, which are known to be respiratory irritants. More than 5,000 different fragrances are in products that are used on a daily basis. These products include health and beauty aids, household cleaners, laundry aids, drugs, paper products, plastics, industrial greases, oils and solvents, and even foods.
Nuts - Allergic reaction to nuts can progress rapidly to anaphylaxis. Peanut allergy is responsible for more fatalities than any other type of allergy. If you suffer from a nut allergy, strictly avoiding nuts, including peanuts and tree nuts like cashews and walnuts, and food containing nuts is the only way to prevent a reaction. But, it is not always easy to avoid these foods since many unsuspecting products contain nuts.
Carpet - Carpet is usually made from synthetic fibers, such as nylon, which are produced from petroleum, a non-renewable resource. Petrochemical processes for synthetic fiber production require high inputs of energy and water and produce harmful air emissions (hazardous air pollutants and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that contribute to smog). Carpet production itself is energy and water intensive, and toxic dyes have been used to produce the attractive colors we demand, which sometimes end up in streams. Carpet has also been identified as a contributor to indoor air pollution, particularly from adhesives used for installation. Finally, old carpet has been typically disposed of in landfills, taking up valuable landfill space and wasting resources that could be reused or recycled. The carpet industry continues to address each of these major environmental impacts with different approaches depending on the company and the type of carpet being manufactured.
Of course, this isn't everything that we need to be protected from but if the GA will work on these things first, it should take them through the March 11 adjournment.
On the other hand, we could decide that life in itself is terminal and that we all have choices to make, including dining at Ruby Tuesdays or throwing back a few shots at Buffalo Wild Wings.
When the government takes on the role of nanny, where does it stop? Moreover, where is the consistency?
Our legislators are constantly lowering air and water quality standards. Then they turn and put some silly bill in to stop an individual from taking a drag on a cigarette. I don't know about you, but I would much rather someone exhale a little stinky smoke than for me to guzzle down mercury laden water.
Brandon bell and the other Senators who voted in favor of this bill aren't fooling anyone. If you want to take on public health and public safety, do it with a modicum of sincerity-do something that matters.
UPDATE/DISCLAIMER: For the record, let me state that not only do I not smoke, I hate going to smoking establishments. It is a nasty habit...but so is driving a Hummer.
posted by Libertas @ 11:29 AM,
1 Comments:
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At 5:34 PM,
David Weintraub said...
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Totally agree with you on the consistency issue. I happen to think that the right balance on this one falls to the side of restaurant employees, who can't realistically choose a smoke free work environment, and frankly I also think that the inalienable right to drive big stinkin humvees is overrated, for many reasons having to do with unreasonable impositions on the rights of other people.
I might feel more sympathetic if the "nanny state" argument were applied with a little bit of consistency, but it's not. The right of business owners to decide how to distribute insurance coverage to their own employees was opposed last year by some of the same legislators now citing the free market. Why? Because the free market in that case demanded that gay people be treated as equal citizens and valued employees, and that violated the personal beliefs of those legislators.
The same goes for those who talk about the sanctity of life and then oppose doing anything about the mercury laden water you speak of - which has its most destructive effect on the unborn.