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Q. We are
looking for literature on the issue of health problems due to the usage of Mobile phones.
Do you have specific information on this.
A. We have a good collection of articles on health problems related to cell phones. We
also have a book, which specifically deals in
the same. The bibliography of the book is as
below:
Mobile phones and health, Sir William Stewart, Independent
Expert Group on Mobile Phones.
Please see the attachment for
few articles on this issue.
 Attachment1.tiff
Attachment2.tiff
(These are scanned images in tiff format, so please use windows explorer to
view the same.)
MINERAL
WATER
Q. Could you please help me to find the EU
Standards For Bottled Drinking Water. I mean the list of
parameter values.
A. We do not have this information. But you
may contact the DWI (Drinking Water Inspectorate) at the following address :
Floor 2
Ashdown House
123 Victoria Street
London
SW1E 6DF
Tel: 020 7944 5956
Fax: 020 7944 5969
E-mail: dwi@dial.pipex.com
Web: www.open.gov.uk/doe/envir/water/drinking/sumcont.htm
OCCUPATIONAL
HEALTH
Q. Do you have
some Information about health problems and safety of workers in tea gardens.
A. Yes, we have few articles and newsclippings on this issue. Pl.
see the attachment for the same.
News
Clipping1.tiff
News
Clipping2.tiff
News
Clipping3.tiff
SMOKING
Q.
I
want to know how does smoking affect a human being’s life span. Do you have
some information which clarifies this fact.
A. This is with reference to your query on "smoking and health
effects". Tobacco is different
from many other health challenges. Cigarettes
are demanded by consumers and form part
of the social custom of many societies. With current smoking patters,
about 500 million people alive today
will eventually be killed by tobacco use. More than half of these are now children and teenagers. By 2030,
tobacco is expected to be single
biggest cause of death worldwide, accounting for about 10 million deaths per year. Smoking already kills one
in 10 adults worldwide. By 2030,
perhaps a little sooner, the proportion will be one in six , 10 million deaths per year- more than any single cause.
Smoking causes fatal and disabling
disease, and compared with other risky behaviors, the risk of premature
death is extremely high. Half of all long term smokers ill eventually be killed by tobacco, and of
these, half will die during productive
middle age, losing 20 to 25 years of life.
Cigarettes
contain more than 4000 chemical compounds and at least 400
toxic substances. While the smoker is inhaling, a cigarette burns at 700 degrees Celsius at the tip and around 60
degrees in the core. This heat breaks
down the tobacco to produce various poisons. As a cigarette
burns, the residues are concentrated towards the butt.
Smoking affects how long you live
Research has shown that smoking reduces life expectancy by seven to eight years. An
interesting calculation predicts that on average, each
cigarette shortens the life of the smoker by around seven to eleven minutes.
Major diseases
caused by smoking
Cardiovascular disease
Cardiovascular disease due to atherosclerosis is
the main cause of death due to smoking,
with an overall increase of death of 1.7 times.
Atherosclerosis is the term used to describe the clogging up of the arteries with fatty material, leaving them
narrow, blocked or rigid. It can take
many forms depending on which blood vessels are involved, and all of them are more common in people who smoke.
Coronary thrombosis is a blood clot in
the arteries supplying the heart. Approximately 30 per
cent of cases are caused by smoking. Nine out of ten people who
require a heart bypass operation are
smokers or ex-smokers. The vessels to the brain
can become blocked, which may lead to collapse, stroke and
paralysis. If the kidney arteries are affected, then high blood
pressure or kidney failure results.
Blockage to the vascular supply to the legs may
lead to gangrene and amputation.
Cancer
The risk of getting cancer is
generally greater for smokers than non- smokers
by a factor of 2.24. This is particularly true of lung cancer, cancer of the throat and cancer of the
mouth, which hardly ever affect non-smokers.
Eighty-five
percent of all cases of lung cancer are related to smoking and a smoker is 12 times more likely to develop
lung cancer.
It
is estimated that 94.5 per cent of 20-a-day smokers have some emphysema if the lungs are examined after
death and more than 90 per cent of
non-smokers have little or none. Smoker's lung (COPD) typically starts when a person is 35 to 45 years of
age. At that age, lung function starts
to decline even in non-smokers, and in susceptible smokers, the rate of decline in lung function can be
three times the usual rate.. Too many
people die every year from this disease which, in 80 per cent of cases, is caused by smoking.
Other risks caused
by smoking
Nicotine in cigarettes increases the
amount of cholesterol in the blood, which
may cause the arteries to clog up with fatty tissue called atheroma (see section on major diseases above).
High blood pressure or hypertension, which are related to heart
attacks and stroke.
Smoking causes an acid taste in the mouth and contributes to the development of ulcers.
Couples who smoke are more likely to have fertility problems
than couples who are non-smokers.
Generally smokers have 25 per cent more sick days year than non- smokers.
Smoking also affects your looks: smokers have thicker and
rougher skin.
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