Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed bill Tuesday which will ban smoking in the city’s parks, beaches, boardwalks and pedestrian plazas. The city passed and ordinance in 2002 that banned cigarette smoking in restaurants and bars and the rest of the country followed suit. Non-smokers who supported the ban in 2002 aren’t supportive of this ban citing it infringes on personal liberties. The people who support the ban are pleased about the ban because it will decrease the amount or pollutants outdoor environments.
The ban on smoking may be an infringement of personal freedoms but in the long run may encourage smokers to give up the habit. Lung cancers cause many deaths throughout the world and smoking is directly linked to the lethal disease along with other pulmonary conditions. For those who contract mesothelioma, a fatal lung cancer that affects the lining of the lungs, smoking isn’t a direct cause but makes patients more susceptible to the disease. Effective treatment of mesothelioma can only delay the fatal lung cancer.
One environmental factor that can be directly linked to mesothelioma is asbestos. Asbestos is a naturally occurring carcinogen often used in residential and commercial buildings. The environmental toxin was outlawed at the end of the twentieth century but still remains in many properties. People who work in the construction and renovation industries are at risk of being exposed to asbestos and developing mesothelioma. Also, people who worked in the shipping industries and on import docks risk exposure to asbestos.
