do non smokers know they can still can get cancer without being around smokers?

Answer 1

I am a non-smoker and I am certainly aware that I can still get cancer even if I avoid all smokers.

No one, as far as I am aware considers smoking the only cause of cancer.

However I am also aware that being around smokers increases my chances of getting certain types of cancers and also other conditions.

It is estimated that 8% of childhood asthma can be attributed to passive smoking.

it is also estimated that about 13% of lower respiratory illness in children under 18 months of age is due to passive smoking.

In adults it is estimated that living with a partner who smokes increases your chances of contracting lung cancer by 30% and of contracting coronary heart disease by 24%.

The review of the scientific evidence also concludes that passive smoking contributes significantly to the risk of sudden infant death syndrome and may increase the risk of death from all causes.

In addition to the more serious health effects of passive smoking, exposure to environmental tobacco smoke irritates the eyes and the upper respiratory tract.

In view of these increased risks it makes sense to me that non-smokers should avoid passive smoking where possible.

In answer to the comment that non-smoking drivers contribute to health problems. 1. I do not own a car but cycle instead. and 2. This argument is only really valid if smokers themselves did not drive.

Answer 2

I'm not sure that they do, I'm tired of sanctimoniously smug non-smokers lecturing me on the cancer that cigarettes cause while they drive their cars around pouring out far more toxins in to other peoples lungs than my smoking ever will. A 2 hour journey in a car will put more toxic mess into your lungs than smoking 20 cigarettes, but I don't drive and object to passive exhaust inhalation.

Remember when it turned out that leaded petrol was causing children to become retarded - nice that.

Non-smokers need to get a life and by the way exhause fumes smell disgusting too. If you are a non-driving non-smoker then lecture away otherwise please shut the **** up now.

It's also nice to see an anti-smoking UK government sanction the bombing of innocent women and children in Iraq, apparently people's lives only mean something if they are Western non-smokers.

Answer 3

That question is like asking can you go through life with out taking a breathe of air? Yes non smokers can get cancer if they are not around smokers. Cigarettes are just a leading cause of cancer. But you have to realize the earth is round and everyone who pollutes the air with toxins is creating cancer for others. My mother had breast cancer. She was a survivor, but six years later she broke her hip and when in for her surgery and while they were fixing her hip the doctors noticed black spots in her lungs. A year later my mother past away from cancer. Even though her she never smoked a cigarette and yes she was around people who smoked but not most of her life. Either the cancer spread from her breast to her lungs or she develop lung cancer and died later from that. I am all for clean air period whether it be cigarettes or exhaust from a car.

Answer 4

Lung cancer is extremely rare in people who are non smokers or who haven't been around smokers for any period of time (or work with certain industrial materials). So the vast majority of people will not get the types of cancer that are associated with smoking if they do not come into contact with it.

Answer 5

there are cancer cells in all of us, but it takes certain situations and subtances to bring these cells forward. i am a non smoker , i Have had testicular cancer and have had one removed. I also have a small tumour that is being treated at this time, but i never concider it is the effect of being around others that smoke . My grandfather started smoking when he was 13 and died of old age at 95 . So i never concider smoking is as bad as health department actually make out!!

Answer 6

I don't smoke, but both my parents did. I have chronic bronchitis (smoker's cough) so I can believe cancer is a possibility, especially since my mother had breast cancer and that has a genetic link.

Answer 7

Yes I do know thank you! It is my choice to be around smokers so I take the risks with it x

Answer 8

bad enough blamming us smokers all the time but what about all the polution in the air that adds up in your lungs 2
you cant blame smokers all the time !!!

ps i am a non smoker!!!

Answer 9

hope you have fun next year if you are from england standing in the street when it is cold and p*ssing it down cause you need a *** while us non smoker are nice and warm with a pint in our hand hahahahahahahaha its going to be brill

Answer 10

Most do these days....that is why they are still fighting to have smoking banned in work and public places. Too bad it is taking so long for us to come to our senses and our leaders to stop being afraid and just ban smoking in all public places. I can't believe we are still waiting for that in many of our towns and cities.