DID YOU KNOW?

Secondhand smoke increases in the number and severity of asthma attacks in about 200,000 to 1 million asthmatic children.

According to the Surgeon General’s report, there are no risk-free levels of secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure. (1) The following facts show that smoking isn’t just detrimental to the smoker but non-smokers can involuntarily inhale the deadly chemicals too!

In Maryland

Over 73% of under-age youth who live with an adult smoker reported being exposed to SHS during the week prior to the 2002 Maryland Youth Tobacco Survey. (2)
43.5% of under-age youth not living with an adult smoker had reported being exposed to SHS during the week prior to responding to the 2002 Maryland Youth Tobacco Survey. (2)
In 2005, in Maryland, costs related from childhood death and illness caused by SHS was $73.8 million. (2)

Quick (and not so fun) facts

More than half of the smoke from a burning cigarette is not actually inhaled by the smoker and instead goes into the air (not to belabor the point, but that’s the air we rely on to live and breathe).
Sidestream smoke (SS) has twice as much nicotine and tar, and five times the carbon monoxide as the smoke that smokers inhale. Although dilution by room air reduces concentrations inhaled by the involuntary smoker, non smokers are still exposed to all the toxic agents generated by tobacco combustion.
Tobacco smoke contains over 4000 chemicals, of which 250 are known to be toxic, and at least 50 have been shown to cause cancer. (3)
SHS is a major source of indoor air pollution and the greatest source of air particle pollution.
In 1992, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) labeled SHS as a “class A” cancer-causing substance for which there is no known safe level of exposure. Therefore, increasing ventilation may dilute secondhand smoke, but it does not make it safe.
Exposure to SHS leads to immediate problems like irritation of the nose, eyes and throat; cough; nausea; dizziness and headaches. SHS exposure also can cause other respiratory problems in nonsmokers, including coughing, phlegm, chest discomfort, and reduced lung function. (3)

Current estimates of SHS exposure

Exposure to nicotine and secondhand smoke is measured by testing the saliva, urine, or blood for a chemical called cotinine, a byproduct of nicotine that comes only from tobacco. (3) Approximately 50-75% of children in the United States have detectable levels of cotinine in the blood. (10)
Despite decreases in smoking rates and public smoking areas, more than 126 million nonsmoking Americans continue to be exposed to SHS in homes, vehicles, workplaces, and public places. (3)
The majority of SHS exposure occurs in homes and workplaces. (3)
In the US, about 21 million, or 35%, of children live in homes where residents or visitors smoke in the home on a regular basis. (10)
SHS exposure causes approximately 3,400 lung cancer deaths and 22,700–69,600 heart disease deaths annually among adult nonsmokers in the US. (3)
SHS exposure causes 150,000–300,000 new cases of bronchitis and pneumonia in children aged less than 18 months each year. (3)
SHS increases in the number and severity of asthma attacks in about 200,000 to 1 million asthmatic children. (11)
SHS affects household pets as well. It can cause certain forms of cancer in dogs and cats, and can even cause respiratory problems in pet birds. (12)

So, does SHS pose a risk to non-smokers? You bet it does.

references | updated: 09.14.2007

references

United States Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General. Retrieved September 14, 2007 from http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/secondhandsmoke/factsheets/factsheet6.html.
Maryland Family Health Adminstration. Monitoring Changing Tobacco Use Behaviors in Maryland. Retrieved September 14, 2007 from http://www.fha.state.md.us/ohpetup/tobacco/pdf/MonitoringChangingBehaviorst.pdf.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking and Tobacco Use, Fact Sheet, Secondhand Smoke. Retrieved October 29, 2007 from http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/Factsheets/SecondhandSmoke.htm.
Passive smoking and health. Educational Resource kit. Institute for Global Tobacco Control. Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. 1999.
Samet JM, Wang SS. Environmental Tobacco Smoke. In: Environmental Toxicants: Human Exposures and Their Health Effects (Lippmann M, ed). New York:Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, Inc.,2000;319-375.
World Health Organization. Retrieved August 2003 from www.who.int/toh.
Health Canada. Retrieved August 2003 from www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hecs-sesc/tobacco.
National Cancer Institute. Retrieved August 2003 from www.nci.gov.
Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. Retrieved August 2003 from www.oehha.org.
American Lung Association. Secondhand Smoke Fact Sheet. June 2007. Retrieved September 14, 2007 from http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=35422#twelve.
American Cancer Society Second Hand Smoke. What is it? Retrieved September 14, 2007 from
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_10_2X_Secondhand_Smoke-Clean_Indoor_Air.asp.
Second Hand Smoke is a Health Threat to Pets. Oklahoma State University, Department of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. Press Release. August 31, 2007. Retrieved September 14, 2007 from http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/532974/.

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