Pro smoking ban anti-smokers claim that 'There is No Safe Level of Exposure To SHS' and that smoking bans are needed to protect non-
smokers health.

As we see below,the EPA/FDA/OSHA have safe levels of exposure for Arsenic.

I wish the antis would explain just which chemical in SHS explains their 'no safe level' claim and how much of it is in SHS and what the PEL's are for that chemical so as to justify their claim.

Gary K.

The anti-smokers also claim that of the more than 4,000 chemicals that have been identified in secondhand tobacco smoke, at least 250
are known to be harmful, and 50 of these are known to cause cancer.

These chemicals include:
* arsenic (a heavy metal toxin)

Arsenic can also be present in the food you eat and the water you drink and the air you breathe.

Three slices of bacon(normal breakfast portion) would be 30 grams of bacon.

The FDA allows there to be 500 nanograms of Arsenic(that deadly cancer causing poison) in each gram of bacon and still be safe.

3 slices of bacon could have 15,000 nanograms of Arsenic and still be FDA safe.

There are about 32 nanograms of Arsenic in ALL of the smoke (mainstream and side stream) from the average cigarette.

You would have to inhale ALL of the smoke from 469 cigarettes(23.44 packs) to equal the FDA safe amount of Arsenic in those 3 slices of
bacon.

The FDA allows as 'safe' the same 500 nanograms per gram of arsenic to be in eggs.

A large egg weighs about 2 ounces or 57 grams, two eggs(a normal portion) would weigh 114 grams and could have 57,000 nanograms of
arsenic(that deadly cancer causing poison) and still be considered FDA 'safe'.

That amount of arsenic is equal to the arsenic in all of the smoke from 1,781 cigarettes(89 packs).

Your 2 eggs and 3 slices of bacon FDA SAFE breakfast could contain the amount of arsenic equal to ALL all of the smoke from 2,250
cigarettes/112.5 packs and still be considered FDA SAFE.

Oooh,you say that you had a 6 oz juice and a 6 oz cup of coffee with your breakfast!

The EPA says that the safe level for arsenic in water is 10 nanograms per gram.

That 12 oz of liquid(mostly water) could have 3,408 nanograms of arsenic and still be EPA SAFE.

That is the amount of arsenic in all of the smoke from 106.5 cigarettes.

Thus, your breakfast could be FDA and EPA safe even if it contained the amount of arsenic in all of the smoke from 2,356.5(11.78 cartons)
cigarettes!!


Let's say that the average smoker inhales 2/3rds(66.67%) of each cigarette's smoke,main stream and side stream.

A smoker would have to smoke 3,140 cigarettes to equal the FDA/EPA safe level of arsenic in that one breakfast.

The National Research Council says nonsmokers inhale 0.1 to 1% of what smokers inhale.

If we use the larger number(1%), a nonsmoker would have to be exposed to the SHS from 314,000 cigarettes to equal the FDA/EPA safe level of arsenic in that one breakfast.

The anti-smokers, in pushing for bans, tell us that a bartender in a smoky bar can be exposed to enough SHS to equal smoking 16 cigarettes
per shift.

That would be 80 cigarettes per week.

3,140 divided by 80 = 39.25 weeks or just about 10 months worth of SHS exposure to equal the FDA/EPA safe level of arsenic in that one
breakfast.

A patron in a smoky restaurant might dine out twice a week and spend one hour per meal in that restaurant.

Their exposure(2 hours) would be 1/20th that of the bartender and they would have to dine out for 785 weeks(65.4 years) to equal the
amount of arsenic from that one FDA/EPA safe breakfast!!

That was for dining in a section where smoking is allowed.

In a nonsmoking section of a restaurant, their exposure might be at most 1/10th that of the smoking section and thus, they would have to
be exposed to said SHS for 654 YEARS to equal that one EPA/FDA safe breakfast's worth of arsenic!!!


OSHA has established a permissible exposure limit (PEL), 8-hour time- weighted average, of 10 ug/m3 for airborne arsenic in various
workplaces.
............................................
This is the PEL (permissible exposure limit), below which the chemical is considered safe.

And OSHA is being very conservative. According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, no symptoms are evident below
about 100 ug.

1 ug is one microgram= 1 millionth of a gram, 1 ng is one nanogram = 1 billionth of a gram.

1 ug = 1,000 ng.

10 ug =10,000 ng.

The average cigarette has 32ng of arsenic in all of it's smoke (mainstream and side stream).

10 ug per cubic meter is all of the smoke from 312.5 cigarettes per cubic meter ,on average,continuously for an 8 hour work shift .

Let's assume a pub 50' x 40' x 10' ceiling; with an occupancy rating of 80 people

That 50 feet by 40 feet with a 10 foot ceiling, is about 16.67 meters by 13.33 meters by 3.33 meters, this equals about 740 cubic meters.

That bar would have to have 740 x 312.5 cigarettes burning all the time.

This is more than 230,000 cigarettes burning all of the time to reach OSHA's PEL for arsenic.

A pub 50' x 40' x 10' ceiling; would have an occupancy rating of 80 people.

Each person could have 2,875 cigarettes continuously burning, all 8 hours of a bartenders shift, and still be below OSHA's PEL for airborne arsenic.

There would be no build up of smoke, it takes about 10 minutes for a cigarette to burn completely and our little bar would exchange the air in the pub with fresh outside air every 8.3 minutes.

Building codes are pretty much the same across the country.

Building codes require 2400 cfm fresh air for the example above. (80 people x 30 cfm / occupant).
And 50 x 40 x 10 = 20,000 cubic feet of air.

Now to determine what 1 air change is for that 20,000 cubic feet is, divide by 60 (minutes per hour, since fans are rated cfm). So 20,000 / 60 = 333 cfm. Now 2400 cfm / 333 = 7.2 air changes per hour.

60 (minutes per hour) / 7.2 = 8.3 minutes. Meaning that 2400 cfm in the 50 x 40 x 10 building will exchange the air in the pub with fresh outside air every 8.3 minutes.

At the rate of 230,000 cigarettes being lit every ten minutes, by the end of an 8 hour shift there would be 11,040,000 cigarettes consumed.

Which is why OSHA has stated that it's well-nigh impossible to find any actual workplace where its PEL's for secondhand smoke or any
constituent thereof would be met, let alone exceeded.

The point I'm trying to make is that while "Arsenic" is a 'poison'
and even a 'carcinogen' it's neither at these doses. And further, people's normal exposure from other sources is far greater by great
amounts.

The same kind of calculations can be made for every "poison" and "toxin" in SHS !!

Good one.

Those numbers about the amount of the chemicals in cigarette smoke come from 'The Massachusetts Benchmark Study, Final Report 07/24/00' as referenced on pages 64-65 of Michael McFadden's book "Dissecting Antismokers' Brains" and by him here: http://www.antibrains.com/shs.html

See bottom of article.

For instance using Cyanide and Formaldehyde:

Chemical ..... PEL/TLV.......amount in smoke
Cyanide....... 5,000 mcg/m3....... 716 mcg
Formaldehyde.... 940 mcg/m3....... 856 mcg

Our little bar of 740 m3 could have 814 cigarettes continuously burning and not exceed the PEL/TLV for Formaldehyde and 5,167 for Cyanide.

With an air replacement rate of once every 8.3 minutes and 10 minutes for a cigarette to burn, the hourly rate for Formaldehyde is 4,884 cigarettes and cyanide is 31,002 cigarettes.

With our little bar having a rated capacity of 80,we see that each smoker could have 10 cigarettes continuously lit for 8 hours and not exceed the PEL/TLV for Formaldehyde and could have 64 cigarettes continuously lit for 8 hours and not exceed the PEL/TLV for Cyanide.

Which is why OSHA has stated that it's well-nigh impossible to find any actual workplace where its PEL's for secondhand smoke or any
constituent thereof would be met, let alone exceeded.

Gary K.

http://www.advisorybodies.doh.gov.uk/scoth/PDFS/nfdpm.pdf

Carbon Monoxide(CO) Yield- mg/cigarette

The range is from 1 mg/cig to 12 mg/cigarette.
I will use the average yield of 10 mg/cigarette.

OSHA PEL for Carbon Monoxide is 55 mg/m3.
http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p...=STANDARDS&p_id=9992

Our little bar with 740 m3 in size would need 4,070 cigarettes to be continuously burning at the same time to equal the OSHA PEL.
(740 m3 x 55 mg/m3 = 40,700 mg, divided by 10 mg/cigarette = 4,070 cigarettes)

4,070 divided by 80 smokers(rated occupancy) = 51 cigarettes per smoker burning continuously for the whole 8 hours.

Which is why OSHA has stated that it's well-nigh impossible to find any actual workplace where its PEL's for secondhand smoke or any constituent thereof would be met, let alone exceeded.

http://www.ccohs.ca/products/databases/samples/npg.html
EXPOSURE LIMITS
Conversion Factor
1 ppm = 3.19 mg/m3 at 25 deg C and 1 atmosphere
1mg = 1,000 mcg

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/benzene/standards_regulations.html

Table 1. Summary of Standards and Regulations for Benzene
Occupational Safety and Health Administration Air (workplace) = 1 ppm

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_1_3X_Benzene.asp

The 'average' cigarette has 100 mcg/ug of Benzene in all of it's smoke(mainstream and side stream).

3.19mg of Benzene per cubic meter is all of the smoke from 31.9 cigarettes per cubic meter ,on average,continuously for an 8 hour work shift .(3.19 mg/m3 x 1,000 = 3,190 mcg/m3, divided by 100 mcg/cigarette = 31.9)


Let's assume a pub 50' x 40' x 10' ceiling; with an occupancy rating of 80 people

That 50 feet by 40 feet with a 10 foot ceiling, is about 16.67 meters by 13.33 meters by 3.33 meters, this equals about 740 cubic meters.

That bar could have 740 x 31.9 cigarettes burning all the time.

This is 23,606 cigarettes burning all of the time to reach OSHA's PEL for Benzene.

A pub 50' x 40' x 10' ceiling; would have an occupancy rating of 80 people.

Each person could have 295 cigarettes continuously burning, all 8 hours of a bartenders shift, and still be below OSHA's PEL for airborne Benzene.

There would be no build up of smoke, it takes about 10 minutes for a cigarette to burn completely and our little bar would exchange the air in the pub with fresh outside air every 8.3 minutes.

Building codes are pretty much the same across the country..

Building codes require 2400 cfm fresh air for the example above. (80 people x 30 cfm / occupant).
And 50 x 40 x 10 = 20,000 cubic feet of air.

Now to determine what 1 air change is for that 20,000 cubic feet is, divide by 60 (minutes per hour, since fans are rated cfm). So 20,000 / 60 = 333 cfm. Now 2400 cfm / 333 = 7.2 air changes per hour.

60 (minutes per hour) / 7.2 = 8.3 minutes. Meaning that 2400 cfm in the 50 x 40 x 10 building will exchange the air in the pub with fresh outside air every 8.3 minutes.

At the rate of 23,606 cigarettes being lit every ten minutes, by the end of an 8 hour shift there would be 1,133,088 cigarettes consumed.

Which is why OSHA has stated that it's well-nigh impossible to find any actual workplace where its PEL's for secondhand smoke or any constituent thereof would be met, let alone exceeded.