Asbestos workers who smoke more than a pack a day have up to 90 times the chance of dying of lung cancer compared with workers who neither smoke nor work with asbestos. By Exposure to Toxic Agents. Scientists have concluded that chronic respiratory diseases develop when the lungs repeatedly experience the damaging effects of cigarette smoking, recurrent respiratory infections beginning in childhood, or long-term occupational and environmental exposures. Smoking adds to the harmful health effects which result from exposure to toxic chemicals in the workplace. Chemicals in Cigarette Smoke are Also Found in the Workplace.
Tobacco smoke contains hundreds of toxic substances, many of which are also found in the workplace.
The following is a partial list of chemicals found in cigarette smoke that are commonly present in the workplace and can add to a worker's total exposure. Ketones Workplace Chemicals Can Enter the Body When Contaminated Cigarettes are Smoked. Cigarettes may actually help to carry toxic substances into the body. As a person holds and smokes a cigarette, toxic substances may enter the body through breathing, taking them in through the mouth or skin absorption. Examples of workplace chemicals that can enter the body of workers smoking contaminated cigarettes include dusts, lead, mercury and formaldehyde.