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Show Cigarettes Source Of 'Personal Pollution' Remember this one . . . ? "Tobacco is a dirty weed And from the devil it doth proceed It robs your pockets, Burns your clothes And makes a smoke stack Out of your nose." "This old rhyme was created before most people understood the relationship between smoking and health. They thought the rhyme was funny, but today it's no joke. About 300,000 persons will die from causes related to smoking, according to Lyman F. Smart, president of the Utah Lung Association "Some may argue that smoking the 'dirty weed' has nothing to do with the devil, but more and more people agree that the smoke is unethical, especially when it is blown into the face of the non-smoker," he said "It is also unhealthful "This personal pollution via the 'smoke stack' nose can be more hazardous than its industrial counterpart In industry (he maximum con' centra lions of carbon monoxide in the air cannot average out to more than 50 parts per million (p.p.m.)." "Given this baseline, how much carbon monoxide do cigarettes send into the air? Researchers have found that smoking seven cigarettes in one hour, even in a ventilated room, created average car-bonmonoxide levels of 20 p p.m. in the room. In the seat next to the smoker, because of proximity to sidestream smoke from the cigarette, the carbon monoxide shot up to 90 pp.m. almost twice the maximum set for industry," reported Mr. Smart. "And it takes hours for the Mr Smart reports that carbon monoxide is not the only harmful gas produced by the burning cigarette. For example, hydrogen cyanide is a poison that attacks respiratory enzymes It is found in ordinary air pollution. But the concentration in cigarette smoke itself is 1600 P.P.M. Long term exposure to levels, above 10 p p.m is considered daneerous. ' 1 - |