In the network there is a site developed by fierce volunteers who are not at all devoted to cigarettes. Their manifesto proclaims: "We have a right to good air. The best possible. As also for water ”.
These declared non-tobacco users engage in the network to adequately talk about the damage and dangers of passive smoking . I firmly believe that January 10th is a time to "think and make people think, civilize the right to clean air".
It is enough to reflect on the fact that if a non-smoker is in a room where someone has consumed a cigarette, it is practically certain that in the surrounding environment there are micro-dust that is absolutely harmful to the body.
Non-smokers and their rights
How is this day born? Celebrated for the first time in 2000, the day was born within the ICAT, International Coalition Against Tobacco, incorporated into the INGCAT (International Non-Governmental Coalition Against Tobacco), a non-governmental organization accredited by the WHO.
Many initiatives designed for this day, many of which are aimed at preventing and spreading this spirit, especially in schools. For example, the project "The School in Pharmacy", organized by Assofarm, Telecom and Sitab, which involves 500 municipal pharmacies and as many schools.
Prevention plays a fundamental role if one considers that the deaths related to cigarettes were 100 million in the last century and the figure could jump to one billion by the end of the 21st century.
There are more than 4, 000 chemicals in smoking, at least 25 of which are considered harmful to health and more than 50 known as a cause of cancer.
Children are at risk: more than 40% of minors have at least one relative smoker and one in two regularly breathes polluted air with substances in the smoke in public places .
Passive smoking can be a cause of children's allergies
Passive smoking, breathing, science and the law
The IARC ( Agency for research on Cancer ), an offshoot of the WHO, has included passive smoking among the 88 substances that create chances of developing cancer. Breathing other people's smoke actually increases the risk of cancer by 20-30%.
In this sense passive smoking is on a par with asbestos, a carcinogenic agent for which it is not possible to establish the minimum safety dose since even small exposures can induce processes of development of oncological pathologies. Passive smoking is also referred to as side smoke or sidestream smoke, in relation to the central or mainstream smoke of active smokers.
It is to all effects the smoke that results from the production of the cigarette that is left to burn passively (secondary current) and from the part of smoke exhaled by the subject who smokes (tertiary current). It generates arteriosclerosis, stroke, myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, especially if in the presence of disorders such as arterial hypertension, diabetes, hypercoleseremia or in the case of use of birth control pills.
The documentation on passive smoking damage is extensive on a scientific level and is carried out by the Cancer Institute of Milan, the CNR, the Istituto Superiore di Sanità and the Italian Tabaccology Society. In this sense, research institutes such as Mario Negri and Regina Elena are also committed.
The reference site for non-smokers is a treasure chest in this sense, with a section called "All about passive smoking". A self-assessment test is also available on what can be influenced by the choices of others in terms of cigarettes.
This day will be flanked by other events during the year including the Breath Day in spring, a prevention and information project on chronic respiratory diseases in children and adults.
There are also digital petitions in the network for the introduction of a law aimed at extending the ban on smoking in any outdoor public space not marked with a sign that highlights the smoking area.
