The Dangers of Secondhand Smoke
Secondhand smoke originates from two sources: smoke exhaled by a smoker, and smoke from the end of a burning cigarette. Secondhand smoke causes or exacerbates a wide range of diseases, including cancer, respiratory infections and asthma.
- Contains over 4,000 chemicals. Two hundred are poisons, and 43 cause cancer. Secondhand smoke has been classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a Group A carcinogen, a known cause of cancer in humans.
- Causes lung cancer and other health problems. The EPA estimates that it causes approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths and 37,000 heart disease deaths in nonsmokers each year.
- Is especially harmful to young children. EPA estimates that secondhand smoke is responsible for 7,500 to 15,000 hospitalizations each year.
- Can make healthy children less than 18 months of age sick. It can cause pneumonia, ear infections, bronchitis, coughs, wheezing and increased mucus production. According to the EPA, secondhand smoke can lead to the buildup of fluid in the middle ear, the most common cause of hospitalization of children for an operation.
- If you smoke, quit!
- Keep smoke away from you and your family by asking people not to smoke in your home.
- Make sure your child's daycare and school are smoke-free.
- Use no-smoking signs, buttons and stickers at home, at work and in your car.
- Eat in smoke-free restaurants.
- Seek a smoke-free workplace.
- Support clean-air laws that protect you from secondhand smoke.
