Even though Israel’s Knesset passed legislation banning smoking in public places several decades ago, a new survey by the Israel Cancer Association (ICA) reveals that nearly 88% of the public here are still exposed against their will to smoking in public places. For example, about 24% were exposed to toxic smoke in children’s playgrounds where smoking is prohibited by law. 

The ICA also reported – marking World No-Smoking Day (May 31) – that a quarter of all Israeli smokers light up inside their homes and expose their family members to the dangers of second-hand (passive) smoking.

A new study from the US links exposure to tobacco smoke during pregnancy to epigenetic changes (something that we don’t have in our genes but we can still pass on to our children).

Many pregnant women who do not smoke are exposed to second-hand smoking) at home and abroad, in social situations, and in the community.

The new study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives found for the first time that this exposure can lead to changes caused by environmental processes that affect how the body reads genetic sequences (DNA); it can increase the risk of developmental disorders and cancer in infants who will be born. 

For the study, researchers from the University of Virginia Commonwealth examined the level of cotinine – a breakdown product of nicotine – in the blood of 79 non-smoking women who participated between 2005 and 2011 in a large-scale study to examine the environmental effects in the womb and early childhood on gene function Before pregnancy and during the first trimester, all women had zero levels of cotinine and all reported that no cigarette touched their lips during pregnancy. After birth, the researchers tested cotinine levels in umbilical cord blood samples of the babies born to them. 

The results of the study showed that similar to active smoking during pregnancy, passive smoking during pregnancy is significantly associated with changes in the methylation of DNA – an expression of an epigenetic change in the baby’s umbilical cord blood. The higher the cotinine levels, the more likely it is that newborns will show epigenetic markers in genes that control the development of brain function, as well as in genes associated with diabetes and cancer. 

These findings highlight the potentially harmful effects of tobacco smoke exposure on the general epigenetic state of the cells in infants born to women who did not smoke during pregnancy but were exposed to tobacco smoke at home or in the community, even at low levels.

The researchers stress that there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke and that action must be taken to reduce smoking in public spaces to prevent exposure in pregnant women that may have long-term effects on their children.  

Third-hand smoking is exposure to the residual particles from smoking tobacco products that are absorbed on various surfaces and gradually released back into the air. This subject is rarely studied in medical settings, but recently researchers from the University of Texas and the State University of San Diego in California conducted an observational study examining the remnants of nicotine particles transferred by visitors to the neonatal intensive care unit that was left on bedside furniture. 

For the study, published in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research, the researchers simultaneously examined two groups of preterm infants: 210 visitors (family and friends) and 80 parent-infant pairs. Participants were asked about the use of tobacco products containing nicotine by at least one household member and underwent a breath test for the presence of carbon dioxide, and some were randomly tested for nicotine residues on their fingers. The couples underwent nicotine tests on the beds of the newborns and the furniture next to them and urine tests of the newborns to detect levels of cotinine. 

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The findings showed that high levels of nicotine were found on the fingers of most visitors (61.9%), and nicotine concentrations were found on most furniture (93.8%) and cotinine in infants’ urine (93.6%), regardless of tobacco use at home. Participants who reported using tobacco themselves or their family members’ smoking found higher levels of nicotine on the furniture at preterm infancy and higher concentrations of cotinine in infants compared to participants who reported not using tobacco at home.

Another US study found that even one-time smoking of a nicotine-free electronic cigarette adversely affects inflammatory processes in the blood vessels and their function and may even cause harmful long-term changes. 

It is known that smoking regular cigarettes has a detrimental effect on the blood system. Researchers at the University of sought to examine the effect of smoking nicotine-free electronic cigarettes on blood vessels

To this end, they measured markers in the blood of oxidative stress (a condition that causes damage to the structure and function of cells due to lack of oxygen) and of inflammatory processes in the blood vessels, as well as the rate of blood flow in the femur, skull, and aorta of 31 participants aged 19 to 33 who had no background diseases, were of normal weight and had never smoked. They were asked to smoke a nicotine-free e-cigarette in a manner that would be equivalent to the average time and number of aspirations required to smoke one regular cigarette. Two blood samples were taken from them – before smoking and an hour to an hour and a half after. Subjects also underwent an MRI scan before and after smoking.

It was found in the study, published in the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology, that after smoking significantly lowered oxygen levels in the blood; markers of inflammatory processes were observed; and there were relatively slow blood flow values ​​in the blood vessels, which were significantly more rigid, compared to values ​​measured before smoking.  

The researchers note that the results of the study show that even a single incident of smoking a nicotine-free e-cigarette adversely affects inflammatory processes in the blood vessels and their function. 

Using different tobacco products at a young age increases the risk of regular smoking at an older age, according to researchers at the University of California, San Diego. They collected data from nearly 16,000 adolescents and young adults aged 12 to 24 from sample health surveys in the US that had been conducted to evaluate tobacco use for four years. The study examined the daily use of 12 types of tobacco products (regular cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, non-smoking tobacco, water pipes, and more. 

The findings showed that at the beginning of the study, 54.5% of the participants were classified as having never using tobacco before: the rate was 90.7% among 12- to 14- year olds and only 28.1% among 22- to 24- year olds. By the fourth year of the study, 62% of 12- to 24- year olds had used tobacco, and 30.2% had tried five or more different types of tobacco products. At this point, 12.4% of teens were defined as “tobacco users on a daily basis,” and 70% in this group smoked regular cigarettes daily. 

It was found in the study, published in the journal Pediatrics, that the first experience with tobacco before the age of 18 was associated with a six percent increased risk of daily use of regular cigarettes. In addition, a strong association was found between the use of several tobacco products and the reporting of the number of cigarettes smoked per day – less than one percent of those who experimented with one tobacco product by the third year switched to smoking cigarettes daily in the fourth year. Experimenting with two tobacco products increased by 2% the risk of smoking cigarettes daily, experimenting with three or four products by seven percent, while using five products or more by 15%. Also, having used an e-cigarette tripled the risk of becoming a daily and regular cigarette smoker. 

Thus using e-cigarettes, multiple tobacco products, and starting to smoke tobacco before the age of 18 will not curb the decline in cigarette smoking among young people in the US, but it will also cause a renewed upward trend.

According to the World Health Organization, there are over 100 reasons to quit smoking including Everything stinks, starting with the skin, the house, clothes, the hands, and the breath; it causes yellowing of the teeth and increased formation of tartar on them, wrinkles in the skin and the appearance of older skin, especially around the lips and eyes and raises the risk of developing the skin disease psoriasis; it harms not only the smoker but also family and friends, increasing the risk of developing lung and other cancers; passive smoking is associated to the development of type-2 diabetes; and smoking or using e-cigarettes near children is detrimental to their health, with children of smokers suffering from a prolonged decline in lung function that can lead to chronic respiratory diseases including asthma and ear infections that can lead to hearing loss and even deafness.

Smoking is expensive; a US study found that smokers spend an average of $1.4 million on smoking during their lifetime, including medical expenses, while the cost to the global economy as a result of smoking is estimated at $ 1.4 trillion. Smoking impairs fertility: women smokers are at higher risk for fertility problems, preterm birth, or miscarriages, and it also impairs male fertility and leads to decreased sperm count and quality and impotence. Heated- tobacco products expose users to chemicals known as carcinogens, and scientific evidence does not support the claim that heated tobacco products are less harmful than regular cigarettes.

Tobacco kills up to half of its users. The health benefits of kicking the habit are that within five to 15 years, the risk of stroke is equal to that of non-smokers, after 10 years, the risk of lung cancer decreases to about half the risk of smokers, and the risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, cervix, and pancreas and of developing heart disease is significantly reduced.