Cigarette smoke’s thirdhand threat 

A Department of Health consultant on non-communicable diseases said thirdhand cigarette smoke is just as much a threat to health as firsthand and secondhand smoke.

 

Thirdhand smoke refers to tobacco residue on clothes, walls, carpets or any physical surfaces that, when inhaled, could be hazardous to the health, cardiologist Anthony Leachon of the Manila Doctors Hospital said Thursday during a forum on sin tax reform.

 

Smoke when mixed with the air can form carcinogens, which can cause cancer even to non-smokers, Leachon explained further. Thus, one can have cancer “in exposure even if you’re not a smoker.” 

 

Furthermore, cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 toxic chemicals, including nicotine, added Leachon.

 

Leachon exemplified his point by citing the case of a 46-year-old tailor from Antipolo, Rizal, who died of throat cancer four months ago.

 

“Tinanong ko siya kung bakit siya naninigarilyo, sabi niya hindi. So tinanong ko, ‘Bakit ka nagka-throat cancer?’ Turns out ‘yung asawa niya at mga kapatid naninigarilyo,” Leachon said.

 

When he investigated further, Leachon realized that the patient must have been inhaling nicotine coming from the curtain fabric which his wife was sewing.  

Her supplies were stowed at home, where it was open to secondhand smoke.

 

“That is a classic example of thirdhand smoking,” Leachon said.  

 

As of the moment, there are no figures that quantify the number of Filipinos affected by thirdhand smoke, Leachon said.

 

“Ang problema ngayon ang hirap gumawa ng study na ganyan. Usually nagli-linger lang kasi ‘yung nicotine,” he said.

 

'High school smokers'

 

The DOH consultant noted that around 10 million Filipinos are affected by secondhand smoking, on top of 30 million Filipino who smoke.

 

Secondhand smoke is five times more dangerous than first-hand smoke due to its carcinogen content, Leachon noted, as primary smokers inhale only 40 percent of the toxic smoke.

 

Around 28.3 percent of smokers are boys aged 13 to 15 years old, while 17.8 percent are girls from the same age group as well.

 

The statistics get a more alarming given that the Philippines is the number one Asian country with the most number of young girls who smoke, Leachon noted.

 

“Ang nakakabahala ‘yung mga bata na hindi ko nakikita dati. Nakikita ko dati mga 30 or 40 years old. Pero yung 13 to 15 years old? Girls are number one in Asia?” the cardiologist consultant said incredulously.

 

“They’re high school, basically,” he said.

 

Sin tax

 

One practical way to control smoking prevalence in the country is through the imposition of higher taxes on cigarettes, Leachon said, citing the sin tax reform bill.

 

The amended House bill version on sin tax seeks to increase the price per pack of cigarettes costing P11.50 to P23.50 during the first year of its implementation. Tobacco products costing P11.50 and above, meanwhile, will be sold for P31.80.

 

The House of Representatives has passed the amended bill in June. The Senate has been tackling their version since August.

 

The economic costs of smoking – based on four major smoking-related diseases – amounted to P177 billion in 2011, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said in an earlier report. Meanwhile, excise taxes from cigarettes totaled P26 billion the same year.  

 

However, expanding the parameters to 44 smoking-related diseases, economic costs could amount to as much as P300 billion, Leachon said.

 

The health department estimates 1,073 cigarettes are consumed by the estimated 17.3 million Philippine tobacco consumers every year. — DVM/KG, GMA News