Preview

Externalities Of Secondhand Smoke

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
608 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Externalities Of Secondhand Smoke
In the paper I’m going to discuss the externalities of second-hand smoke. Externalities refer to all costs or benefits of a market activity borne by a third party. It’s also the difference between the social and private costs (benefits) of a market activity. When economic agents are not directly involved, negative externalities can exist, such as pollution. Second-hand smoke is a health hazard at any level (Essentials Of economics, Bradley R.Schiller).
It’s to be said that smoking bans are the only way to protect nonsmokers. Although many states and hundreds of cities have passed smoke-free laws, more than 126 million Americans ages 3 and older continue to be exposed to secondhand smoke. Nearly 50,000 nonsmokers die from the secondhand smoke each year. Nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work increase their risk of heart disease and cancer. Brief exposure to smoke, damages cells, beginning a process that can lead to cancer, and increase the risk of blood clots (USA today: June 28, 2006).
…show more content…
In children it causes 790,000 ear infections, 200,000 episodes of asthma, at least 24,000 low birth weight or preterm deliveries. When non-smokers are exposed to secondhand smoke it’s called involuntary smoking or passive smoking. Regardless if you’re smoking or not, if you’re around someone who is smoking you’re taking in nicotine and other toxic chemicals just like smokers do. The workplace is a major source of secondhand smoke exposure for adults (USA today: June 28,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    According to Centers Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Cigarette smoking causes about one of every five deaths in the United States each year. It is estimated to cause more than 480,000 deaths annually (including deaths from secondhand smoke).” Many people start smoking in their teens because of peer pressure, personal issues and media influences. In addition, most of them are addicted to cigarettes by the time they are adults. Smoking is related to many different negative effects that most people are not actually aware of. It not only causes a number of diseases to smokers themselves, but also affects the people around them. Moreover, smoking costs a lot of money and takes a large amount…

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Secondhand Smoke

    • 703 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Secondhand smoke is defines as the smoke inhaled from a lit cigarette, cigar, or pipe, and the smoke exhaled by a smoker. Non-smokers that inhale second hand smoke actually breathes in almost the same amount of chemicals as a smoker. Tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 chemical compounds, more than 50 of which are known to cause cancer.6 Chemicals that cause cancer include: Arsenic, Benzene, Beryllium, Butadiene, Cadmium, Chromium, Ethylene Oxide, Nickel, Polohium-210, and Vinyl Chloride.1 Other toxic chemicals in secondhand smoke is Hydrogen Cyanide, Carbon Monoxide, Formaldehyde, and Ammonia. No one would want to consume any one of these chemicals separately, but billions of smokers and non-smokers inhale the combination of them on a daily basis. There is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke.3…

    • 703 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Essay On Secondhand Smoke

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Secondhand smoke (also known as environmental tobacco smoke) is the smoke a smoker breathes out and that comes from the tip of burning cigarettes, pipes, and cigars. It contains about 4,000 chemicals. Many of these chemicals are dangerous; more than 50 are known to cause cancer. Anytime children breathe in secondhand smoke they are exposed to these chemicals.…

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Infant death is defined as the death of a child within its first year of life.3 ... Exposure to secondhand smoke causes a range of respiratory symptoms, such ... both concluded that secondhand smoke causes and exacerbates asthma in children.…

    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    National Public Smoking Ban

    • 3619 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Many people, regardless of age, race or socioeconomic status, interact daily with a tobacco user. Tobacco users tend to fail to realize that their choices affect not only them but those around them as well. Secondhand smoke exposure contributes to an estimated 41,000 deaths yearly in the United States (Smoking & Tobacco Use, 2014). Exposure to secondhand smoke is estimated to affect almost half of…

    • 3619 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Secondhandsmoke

    • 1307 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Exposing non-smokers to second-hand smoke goes against their rights. Everyone makes a decision on whether or not they will smoke, so why must smokers choose to smoke around non smokers? Exposure to second-hand smoke also exacerbates existing respiratory conditions such as asthma. Studies have shown that second-hand smoke increases the frequency of episodes and severity of symptoms in asthmatic children, and it is a risk factor for new cases of asthma in children who had not had previous symptoms. Second-hand smoke is the mixture of “side stream” smoke emitted by the burning end of a cigar, cigarette, or pip and “mainstream” smoke breathed out by a smoker. It contains more than 4,000 chemical compounds, like tar and nicotine that make up at least 60 identified carcinogenic substances. While smokers are entitled to smoke if he or she wishes, consideration must be given to the rights of nonsmokers who are exposed to that tobacco smoke. Second-hand smoke constitutes a grave threat to the fundamental right of all persons to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, as well as to other related human rights and fundamental freedoms (Praetorius). Comprehensive smoke free air laws have been effective in reducing exposure to secondhand smoke, increasing the number of people who quit and discourage kids from starting to smoke (Egendorf 77). Anti-smoking activists give…

    • 1307 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Smoking is when you inhale burnt dried leaves of tobacco that has been rolled onto a piece of paper forming a cylindrical shape. People smoke everywhere; in their houses, at the bus stop, coffee shops and sometimes on the corner of the street where you work. Active smoking has been known to cause familiar diseases like lung cancer, heart problems, respiratory issues and more. What people generally don’t see is that it not only affects the person smoking, but affects the people in their surroundings on a bigger scale. C. Wright Mills talks about looking at the bigger picture of things in a way that not only affects an individual, but has a broader social meaning and a burden to the public (Mills,…

    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Smoking Is Harmful

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Finally, not only health and environment but also society is affected a lot by smoking. First, smoking restrains economic development. Because of tax, tobacco is not cheap, so if a person smokes every day, he has to pay money for smoking. However, in fact, this is maybe much more money because some kinds of…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Smoking is a practice in which a substance, most commonly tobacco is burned and the smoke is tasted or inhaled. It can be considered as one of the most dangerous habits that any one individual can have. There are many causes which make people smoke, however it can be divided into two main causes namely physical and psychological. On the other hand, some of the effects of smoking are addiction, chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease and ultimate death.…

    • 410 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Dangers of Smoking.

    • 1503 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Would you risk your life for one of your addictions? Even though we know more about the dangers of smoking, it sill haunts society. Not only does smoking have many dangers, physical outcomes, and costs, but also there are also many positive steps to combat this tribal habit.…

    • 1503 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Externalities Assignment

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages

    According to the article in greennature.com, “The most publicized issue of externalities today is probably the issue of second hand smoke. Smokers, so the logic goes, harm not only themselves, but also others who breathe their smoke second hand, when they smoke inside poorly ventilated buildings. This would be considered a negative externality.” Even though smokers gain the pleasure from smoking, others have to pay for this gain of pleasure as a cost.…

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Speech Class

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Growing up, the first thing that we learned in health class is that tobacco is bad for our health but what some individuals might not know is that a person does not have to be a tobacco user to be affected. As I child I learned the ability to hold my breath really long around my grandma, because I feared the effects of second hand smoke. Leary states in the article, U.S. Ties Secondhand Smoke to Cancer, “Secondhand tobacco smoke causes lung cancer that kills an estimated 3,000 nonsmokers a year.” Exposure to second hand smoke can cause children to develop asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, and ear infections. An innocent child should not be punished based upon the decisions of another person. “The EPA estimates that secondhand smoking is responsible for 150,000 to 300,000 lower respiratory infections in infants and children under 18 months in the US ”(EPA). In addition to tobacco affecting children it also makes it hard to save money because of the costly health bills.…

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Smoking Kills

    • 421 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Smoking is dangerous to everyone involved. “Lung cancer killed more Americans than any other type of malignancy, causing some 160,000 deaths a year during the decade…”(379). Proponents say that smoking has killed millions. They also say that some of these people are affected from second hand smoke. “Approximately 26% of adults in the United States currently smoke cigarettes, and 50 to 67% of children under five years of age live in homes with at least one adult smoker”(1). Advocates contend that smoking comes into contact with the dangerous chemicals of smoking. Also, they say that thousands die from secondhand smoke. These are just a few reasons why smoking should be banned from all public areas.…

    • 421 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Smoking Unwanted

    • 2002 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Have you ever been walking down the street and all of sudden get a whiff of the cigarette smoke coming from the nearby smoker? Many people have complained that cigarette smoke should be banned in public places due to extreme health risks. Health experts, politicians, business people and the general public have debated a smoking ban on cigarettes for many years. However the issue of smoking bans is complex and there are several things that must be considered. In addition to the health advantages there are also questions concerning the economic impact on smoking bans on state and local communities, and the rights of smokers and non- smokers. Smoking in public places should be banned because of the negative effects of passive smoke on smokers.…

    • 2002 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Effects of Smoking

    • 896 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Cigarettes have been around for a long time; however, millions of people are becoming more hooked than ever. Smoking was permitted almost everywhere, including airplanes. Worldwide tobacco advertising plays huge rue in the amount of people who smoke. Companies target potential new smoker’s especially young adults, with the usage of catchy ads on television and bill boards. Smoking cigarettes is considered one the most hazardous habits known to mankind. Smoking is a hard habit to break because tobacco contains nicotine, and is extremely addictive. Most people start smoking at a young age, they become extremely addicted so they continue to smoke throughout their lifetime. The effects of smoking are lung cancer, secondhand harm smoke and environmental damage.…

    • 896 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays