World No Tobacco Day 2022 - Protect the environment

N Munal Meitei *

World No Tobacco Day is an annual awareness day observed on 31 May since 1987 by WHO to raise awareness of the harms caused by tobacco products to people, public health, communities and environment. The theme of World No Tobacco Day 2022, “Tobacco: Threat to our environment” highlights that tobacco pollutes the planet and damages the health of the people.

The campaign is aimed to raise awareness on the environmental impact of tobacco – from cultivation, production, distribution and waste. It will give tobacco users one extra reason to quit. The campaign will also aim to expose tobacco industry’s effort to “greenwash” its reputation and products by marketing themselves as environmentally friendly.

To mark this year's celebration, UNEP renewed its collaboration with WHO to raise awareness on tobacco industry’s impact on climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss and to resolve for a viable future.

The harmful impact of the tobacco industry on the environment is vast and growing adding unnecessary pressure to our planet’s already scarce resources and fragile ecosystems. Around 3.5 million hectares of land are destroyed for tobacco cultivation every year. Growing tobacco contributes to deforestation, especially in the developing countries promoting environmental degradation and “failing yields” or the capacity for the land to support the growth of any other crops or vegetation.

600 million trees are chopped down to make rolling papers for cigarettes, 84 megatons of CO2 are emitted into the air and 22,000 million litres of water is used annually reducing the climate resilience, wasting resources and damaging ecosystems.

Tobacco growing and manufacturing poison our water, air, soil and pollutes the beaches and city streets with chemicals, toxic waste, cigarette butts, including microplastics and e-cigarette waste. Tobacco smoke are harmful to both smokers and nonsmokers. Breathing even a little tobacco smoke can be harmful.

Of the more than 7,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, at least 250 are known to be harmful, including hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, nicotine and ammonia. Among the 250 harmful chemicals, at least 69 can cause cancer. Every cigarette smoked or tobacco product diminishes the precious resources that our existence depends on. Tobacco smoke contributes to higher air pollution and contains many greenhouse gases.

Tobacco use is now a well-documented threat to global health, killing more than 8 million a year and is currently the world’s single biggest cause of preventable death. India with 11.2% of the world’s total smokers is at the 2nd rank and cigarette smoking and exposure to tobacco cause about 1.34 million deaths each year.

As per a report dated 08/01/2014, smokers in India consume an average of 8.2 cigarettes per day and the total cigarettes smoked annually are more than 6 trillion. Of those premature deaths, about 36% are from cancer, 39% are from heart disease and stroke, and 24% are from lung diseases. Mortality rates among smokers are about three times higher than those who never smoked.

The total tobacco users in India is almost 267 million above the age group of 15 years i.e. 28.6% of the population in which 42.4% are men and 13.2% women. In the country, 30.2% adults are exposed to second hand smoke in indoor workplace, 7.4% in restaurants and 13.3% in public transport.

The country also accounts for 70% of the global burden of smokeless tobacco i.e. khaini, zarda, chewing tobacco, gutka etc. which kill more than 2 million each year and 90% of oral cancer in the country are also attributed to smokeless tobacco use. 27% of all cancers in India are attributable to tobacco use.

The total costs of tobacco equate to 1.04% of the country’s GDP and direct medical costs of tobacco related amount to 5.3% of the total health expenditure. The economic loss of tobacco related diseases and death in the country accounts for Rs 1773.4 billion.

Smoking harms nearly every body parts and organ and diminishes a person’s overall health. Smokers are at higher risk of developing pneumonia, tuberculosis and other airway infections. Thus smokers die 6 to 10 years earlier than their non-smoking counterparts. Smoking makes it harder for a woman to get pregnant.

A pregnant smoker is at higher risk of miscarriage, having an ectopic pregnancy, having her baby born too early and with low birth weight and having her baby born with a cleft lip and/or cleft palate. Men who smoke are at greater risk of erectile dysfunction.

The longer a smoker’s duration of smoking, the greater is their likelihood of experiencing harm from smoking. Second hand smoke is the combination of “sidestream” smoke, the smoke given off by a burning tobacco product and “mainstream” smoke, the smoke exhaled by a smoker.

Approximately 7,300 lung cancer deaths and increase of heart disease by 25 to 30% occur each year among adult nonsmokers as a result of exposure to second hand smoke. It also increases the risk of stroke by 20 to 30%.

Third-hand smoke is the long-lasting residue resulting from second-hand smoke that accumulates in indoor and outdoor environments which can end up in landfills and waste. Regardless of their age, people who quit smoking have substantial gains in life expectancy.

Smoking is highly addictive. Nicotine is the drug primarily responsible for a person’s addiction to tobacco products. The addiction to cigarettes and other tobacco products that nicotine causes is similar to the addiction produced by using drugs such as heroin, WY and cocaine. But tobacco companies add enough nicotine to create and sustain addiction.

There is no safe level of smoking. Smoking even just one cigarette per day over a lifetime can cause smoking-related deaths. While on smoking, the heart rate and blood pressure increase and the level of blood CO increases and reduces the blood’s ability to carry oxygen.

The environmental impact of tobacco use is especially dangerous for developing countries, as 90% of the tobacco production with the profits going to multinational tobacco companies that are based in higher-income countries. In low-and middle-income countries, many farmers and Govt see tobacco as a cash crop that can generate their economy; however, in long-term consequences they have to face food insecurity, sustained debt, illness and poverty and widespread environmental damages.

The fact that today most people are aware of the health impacts of using tobacco is a victory for global health and well-being. It moves us one step closer to a world where a billion people are less likely to die from the consequences of chewing, smoking or ingesting tobacco.

The tobacco industry damages the environment far beyond the effects of the smoke that cigarettes put into the air. Long after a cigarette has been extinguished, it continues to cause environmental damage in the form of non-biodegradable butts– millions of kilograms of which are discarded every year.

Most importantly, the environmental consequences of tobacco consumption move it from being an individual problem to being a human problem. It is not just about the lives of smokers and those around them but the entire planet is now at stake.

Recognizing the harmful impact of tobacco on indoor pollution and biodiversity turns tobacco from an issue of individual’s well-being to one of global well-being. It also means that tobacco can no longer be categorized simply as a health threat – it is a threat to human development and other living beings.

Only global action will create a solution. Governments and policy makers should support tobacco farmers to switch to alternative, more sustainable livelihoods to reduce the environmental impact of tobacco growing, curing and manufacturing while continuing to implement tobacco control measures.