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Sun 25 May, 2003 03:45 pm
Want to know how much noxious stuff you are breathing? A Dublin based company has developed a gadget that measures the the amount of poisons produced from second hand smoke.
Quote:Gadget keeps tabs on smoke
A device that allows people to monitor the damage passive smoking is doing to them could add fuel to the debate over whether smoking should be banned in public places.
Dublin-based researchers at the Media Lab Europe are developing a wearable gadget that takes readings of the amount of carbon monoxide and other particles given off by cigarette smoke.
It will allow people, especially those that work in smoky environments, to see how much damage passive smoking is doing them.
"Once a bartender knows how much he is inhaling, it might change his opinion on a ban," Jamie Rasmussen, a researcher at Media Lab Europe told the BBC's Go Digital programme.
Smoking debate
At the moment, the researchers are using a handheld computer can provide readings of the level of noxious substances being inhaled.
But they are looking at using different techniques to tell people in detail how much damage is being done to their lungs.
People could also find out how the amount of smoke is affecting their skin and even what their life expectancy is after a week's or month's worth of passive smoking.
The device is particularly timely because the Irish Government is considering banning cigarette smoking from pubs and restaurants.
Other countries are also looking at tobacco bans and the group has presented its device to the World Health Organisation.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/2932844.stm
Published: 2003/05/25 06:38:09 GMT
© BBC MMIII
What do you think of this idea? Do you think that people would be more responsive to smoking bans if they knew, in an objective fashion, just how much second hand smoke, with their toxins, that they are breathing?
I think that this will be a useful tool for those who already strongly oppose public smoking. I do not think that this will change the minds of those who oppose smoking bans.
Most of us who oppose smoking bans do so because of the business repercussions. Privately owned bars make less money with smoking bans. Customers are grumpier. Businesses will have to close their doors. Lethal violence has already resulted from the smoking ban in New York City. In an economy such as the current one, a smoking ban is much more dangerous than the smoke itself is.
On top of that, the government is banning an activity that is legal and already heavily taxed. That just seems preposterous to me.
I am not a fan of smoking. I used to smoke, and quit for my health. But I do not think that I have the right to limit others' right to smoke. If the sale of tobacco remains legal in this country, and if our government continues to profit from the farming and sale of tobacco, then we have no right to tell people that they can no longer engage in this legal activity in public. This is hypocrisy in the extreme.
Back to the gadget: I don't think such a device would change my stance. I am fully aware of the risks I face when I inhale second-hand smoke. I know that as a bartender I inhaled a lot of second-hand smoke for many years. I also know that smoking bans are bad business, for the struggling small business owners as well as for the local, state, and national governments.
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