Tracking down toxic metals from tobacco smoke
Cigarette smoke has been studied for years, revealing a multitude of contaminants, including toxic metals. But exactly which of those metals can be traced to secondhand or thirdhand smoke?
Cigarette smoke has been studied for years, revealing a multitude of contaminants, including toxic metals. But exactly which of those metals can be traced to secondhand or thirdhand smoke?
Environment
May 21, 2024
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40
During their 10-minute walk to school in Malang, a city in East Java, Indonesia, where Marina Welker was conducting research in 2015–16, her children passed dozens of cigarette advertisements attached to small shops and ...
Social Sciences
Apr 2, 2024
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1
Our pets share our homes, lifestyles, and sometimes even our food and beds. For many pets, this close contact with humans can include exposure to secondhand smoke from cigarettes and other air pollutants. This may have serious ...
Veterinary medicine
Feb 6, 2024
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9
Dogs are humans' best friends. Need to quickly locate a bomb? There's a dog for that. Can't see very well? There's a dog for that. Searching for a lost hiker in the mountains or survivors in an earthquake, diagnosing illness, ...
Veterinary medicine
Jan 3, 2024
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25
A new paper examining whether heated tobacco products emit smoke has been published in the academic journal American Chemical Society Omega.
Analytical Chemistry
Jun 28, 2022
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71
The communications line between two critical parts of a human cell could be the key to cell survival under stress—a discovery that could deepen our understanding of various cancers, according to new research from the University ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 25, 2022
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134
In the pristine expanse of Alaska's interior lies a dirty secret: some of the most polluted winter air in the United States can be found in and around Fairbanks.
Environment
Mar 24, 2022
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35
Milan will ban cars from driving within the city on Sunday, a measure aimed at tackling high pollution levels, even as authorities consider new measures, such as prohibiting smoking at bus stops.
Environment
Jan 29, 2020
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12
Tobacco is not a simple crop. It is commodity fraught with health, economic and political implications. These last are the focus of Sarah Milov's new book.
Other
Oct 11, 2019
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7
When ozone and skin oils meet, the resulting reaction may help remove ozone from an indoor environment, but it can also produce a personal cloud of pollutants that affects indoor air quality, according to a team of researchers.
Biochemistry
Jun 27, 2019
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2
Tobacco smoking is the practice where tobacco is burned and the vapors either tasted or inhaled. The practice began as early as 5000–3000 BC. Many civilizations burnt incense during religious rituals, which was later adopted for pleasure or as a social tool. Tobacco was introduced to the old world in the late 1500s where it followed common trade routes. The substance was met with frequent criticism, but became popular nonetheless. German scientists formally identified the link between smoking and lung cancer in the late 1920s leading the first anti-smoking campaign in modern history. The movement, however, failed to reach across enemy lines during the Second World War, and quickly became unpopular thereafter. In 1950, health authorities again began to suggest a relationship between smoking and cancer. Scientific evidence mounted in the 1980s, which prompted political action against the practice. Rates of consumption from 1965 onward in the developed world have either peaked or declined. They however continue to climb in the developing world.
Smoking is the most common method of consuming tobacco, and tobacco is the most common substance smoked. The argicultural product is often mixed with other additives and then pyrolyzed. The resulting vapors are then inhaled and the active substances absorbed through the alveoli in the lungs. The active substances trigger chemical reactions in nerve endings which hightens heart rate, memory, alertness, and reaction time. Dopamine and later endorphins are released, which are often associated with reward and pleasure. As of 2000, smoking is practiced by some 1.22 billion people. Men are more likely to smoke than women, however the gender gap declines with younger age. The poor are more likely to smoke than the wealthy, and people of developing countries than those of developed countries.
Many smokers begin during adolescence or early adulthood. During the early stages, smoking provides pleasurable sensations and thus serves as a source of positive reinforcement. After an individual has smoked for many years, the avoidance of withdrawal symptoms and negative reinforcement become the key motivations.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA