Death Adder <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>OK, now you non-smokers can blame us smokers for all your ills but boy
>am I putting my foot down when you say it's a smoker that caused your
>ferret to have asthma.  You ever watch a ferret?  they go around with
>their nose in the carpet , all that dust, all that epithelial matter
>and no to mention that smoke travels upward so get off so smokers backs,
>we pay more in gov. taxes than any other group
 
In Issue #31 of Modern Ferret, Bob Church talks about a study of
second-hand smoke in ferrets.  It's not good news.  (You can see the post
that this was based on in FML issue 3190.)
 
My ferrets have not been exposed to smoke because I quit before we got
ferrets.  (Interestingly enough, I have asthma -- I was exposed to
second-hand smoke as a child and first-hand smoke as a teen & adult.)
But when we moved into a rental house in 1997, the smell of smoke was
awful.  After cleaning the floors (which didn't help reduce the smell),
I cleaned the panelled wall in the living room -- floor to ceiling --
with Murphy's Oil Soap and the water came up black over and over again.
The tar from cigarettes does not go up.  It goes all over the place --
including the carpet, where your fuzzies are nosing around and snorting
it up along with the dust and epithelial matter.  If you love your
ferrets, don't smoke in the same house with them.  Scrub *everything* in
your home: walls, floors, ceilings, windows, fabrics -- everything.  If
you love yourself, quit smoking.
 
The big taxes on cigarettes are to help pay for all the people who end up
disabled because they developed illnesses from smoking.
 
--Mary (former smoker -- coming up on 11 years) and the Smoke-Free Fuzzies
 
PS: Oh, yeah, smoking killed my mother -- she was 38.  So, I guess I'm
biased.  But the article from Bob C really says it all.
 
(BIG/Bob C: maybe we could post Bob's post from FML 3190 again here??
It's very relevant.)
 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Mary R. Shefferman, Editor, Modern Ferret Magazine
Trixie, Koosh, & Gabby, The Modern Ferrets
Read my blog! http://www.modernferretblog.com/mary
See my cool stuff! http://www.topicaltees.com
 
[Moderator's note... OK, it certainly seems relevant and it's a somewhat
short FML today, so I'll repost it here, from issue 3190:
 
 Date:    Fri, 29 Sep 2000 19:52:09 -0500
 From:    RRC <[log in to unmask]>
 Subject: Bob C: Response to Question regarding Second hand Smoke
          and Ferrets [repost from issue FML 3190]
 
This article speaks for itself:
 
Sindhu RK, Rasmussen RE, Kikkawa Y 1996 "Exposure to environmental
tobacco smoke results in an increased production of
(+)-anti-benzo[a]pyrene-7,8-dihydrodiol-9,10-epoxide in juvenile
ferret lung homogenates." JOURNAL OF TOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
47:(6) 523-534 (APR 19 1996).
 
Abstract: "Six-week-old ferrets were exposed head-only to clean air or
environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) at an average particulate concentration
of 38 +/- 13 mg/m(3) for 2 h/d, 5 d/wk for up to 15 wk.  Twenty-four hours
after the last exposure, the ferrets were sacrificed and the metabolism of
benzo[a]pyrene and (-)-7R-trans-benzo[a]pyrene-7,8-dihydrodiol was studied
in lung homogenates.  The results show that after ETS exposure total
metabolism of benzo[a]pyrene, measured by the accumulation of hexane
nonextractable radioactivity, was increased by 35% in the males and 66%
in the females (p <.05), respectively, of that observed with air-exposed
controls.  With (-)-7R-trans-benzo[a]pyrene-7,8-dihydrodiol as substrate,
the formation of both benzo[a]pyrene-r-7,t-8,9,c-10-tetrahydrotetraol and
(+)-anti-benzo[a]pyrene-7,8-dihydrodiol-9,10-epoxide-derived tetraols by
lung homogenates of ETS-exposed male and female ferrets was significantly
increased compared to the air-exposed controls (p <.01).  DNA-bound
radioactivity was significantly increased in both the males (p <.01) and
females (p <.01) compared to the air-exposed ferrets."
 
All I will say is, one of the primary causes of cancer is radioactive
(or oxidant) mediated DNA damage, and what this paper says is, ferrets
exposed to environmental cigarette smoke have large increases of DNA
damaging radioactive particles in their lungs compared to ferrets
breathing clean air, with females having twice the load as males
(probably due to increased respirations).  Without guessing what this
means in terms of absolute cancer risk, it is clear ferrets (especially
females) exposed to cigarette smoke will have a much higher relative
risk of cancers cause by DNA damage.
 
For those of you who do not understand what "males (p <.01)" means, it
is a measurement of accuracy and precision.  In this case, the finding is
accurate and precise to 99%, meaning there is 1 chance out of 100 that
the scientist is wrong.  Standard scientific protocols require (p <.05),
or 95% reliability, so this is well beyond what is required for
scientific standards (even the space program is limited to 95%).
 
Second hand smoke is NOT just the free smoke exhaled by the smoker or
from the burning cigarette.  It is also those chemicals which come off
the clothing or walls, from the hair, skin, or even from the breath of
the smoker.  Many of these chemicals, including the nasty radioactive
ones, form sticky pastes with the water and biochemicals from a smoker's
lungs, and coat surfaces in the environment, only to evaporate into the
air over long periods of time (this is why a nonsmoker can rent a hotel
room and KNOW it was occupied by smokers, even after extended time or
cleaning).  With heavy smokers, the house itself becomes a hazard to
those with small or damaged lungs, especially those who have naturally
rapid breathing (like ferrets), because virtually ALL exposed surfaces
get coated with the DNA toxins.
 
Ferret caretakers addicted to nicotine may express anything they like
concerning their drug addiction (including denial), and they have the
freedom to place themselves at risk as they see fit, and I will not
comment nor judge them for their decisions.  But the case is clear that
ferrets are negatively impacted in such a way that their risk of cancers
caused by damaged DNA is increased above that of ferrets not exposed to
second hand smoke.  The individual owner has to decide if placing
nonconsenting ferrets at risk is ethical, moral or demonstrates at high
regard of ferret stewardship.  In other words, these are the scientific
facts; you will have to judge them for yourself, and learn to accept
whatever risk you force on your ferrets.
 
Bob C and 15 Mo' Nonsmokin' Stoats
 
[end repost from issue 3190.      BIG]]
[Posted in FML issue 4269]