September 2008
What Is Secondhand Smoke?
Secondhand smoke is a mixture of the smoke given off by the burning end of a cigarette, pipe or cigar and the smoke exhaled from the lungs of smokers. Secondhand smoke contains more than 250 chemicals known to be toxic or cancer causing, including formaldehyde, benzene, vinyl chloride, arsenic, ammonia, and hydrogen cyanide.1
Secondhand smoke is also called environmental tobacco smoke (ETS); exposure to secondhand smoke is called involuntary smoking, or passive smoking.2
It is not easy to avoid secondhand smoke because about one in five people smoke.3 The following list shows how secondhand smoke is harmful to yourself and your family.
The Dangers of Secondhand Smoke:
Secondhand smoke causes about 3,400 deaths each year from lung cancer in non-smokers.4
Secondhand smoke causes irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat.5
Secondhand smoke can also irritate the lungs, leading to coughing, excessive phlegm, wheezing and breathlessness.6
Secondhand smoke has been estimated to cause 46,000 (ranging from 22,700 to 69,600) deaths per year from heart disease in adult nonsmokers.7
Secondhand Smoke Especially Hurts Children!
Children who breathe secondhand smoke are more likely to suffer from pneumonia, bronchitis, and other lung diseases.8
Children who breathe secondhand smoke have more ear infections.9
Children who have asthma and who breathe secondhand smoke have more asthma attacks.10
Babies whose mothers smoke while they are pregnant or who are exposed to secondhand smoke after birth are at a greater risk for SIDS, or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.11
There are an estimated 790,000 visits to health care providers for ear infections and over 202,000 asthma attacks in children with asthma caused by secondhand smoke exposure.12
Sources:
1. U.S Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke. A Report of the Surgeon General, 2006. Children are Hurt by Secondhand Smoke Factsheet. January 4, 2007. Available here. Accessed on July 30, 2008
2. American Cancer Society. Secondhand Smoke. October 25, 2007. Available here. Accessed on July 30, 2008.
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics. National Health Interview Survey, 2006. Analysis by the American Lung Association, Research and Program Services Division using SPSS and SUDAAN software.
4. California Environmental Protection Agency. Identification of Environmental Tobacco Smoke as a Toxic Air Contaminant. Executive Summary. June 2005.
5. Ibid.
6. U.S Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke. A Report of the Surgeon General, 2006. There is No Risk-Free Level of Exposure to Secondhand Smoke Factsheet. January 4, 2007. Available here. Accessed on July 30, 2008.
7. California Environmental Protection Agency. Identification of Environmental Tobacco Smoke as a Toxic Air Contaminant. Executive Summary. June 2005.
8. U.S Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke. A Report of the Surgeon General, 2006. Children are Hurt by Secondhand Smoke Factsheet. January 4, 2007. Available here. Accessed on July 30, 2008.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. California Environmental Protection Agency. Identification of Environmental Tobacco Smoke as a Toxic Air Contaminant. Executive Summary. June 2005.
13. U.S Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke. A Report of the Surgeon General, 2006. How to Protect Yourself and Your Loved Ones from Secondhand Smoke. January 4, 2007. Available here. Accessed on July 30,2008.
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