Study concludes smoking can diminish photographers' color vision acuity

The deadly health effects of tobacco were made known in 1964, when Luther L. Terry, M.D., then Surgeon General of the U.S., released the first report of the Surgeon General's Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health. From that report and subsequent ones, we know that smokers are more likely than non-smokers to develop heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and a myriad of other serious diseases.

According to the CDC, the statistics about smokers contracting life threatening diseases compared to non-smokers are startling.

• Smokers are more likely to contract coronary heart disease by 200%-400%.
• Smokers are more likely to experience a stroke by 200%-400%.
• Smokers are more likely to die from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) by 1,200%-1,300%.
• Male smokers are more likely to develop lung cancer by 2,500%.
• Female smokers are more likely to develop lung cancer by 2,570%.

Cigarette smoke is extremely toxic. It contains about 4,000 active compounds, including tar, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, and heavy metals.