Tobacco Topics : Secondhand Smoke

Did you know?

Over 50,000 people a year die from secondhand smoke in the US alone.

Facts

• Secondhand smoke, also known as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), is a mixture of smoke given off by the burning end of a tobacco product and the smoke exhaled by smokers.

• Secondhand smoke contains a complex mixture of more than 4,000 chemicals, over 50 of which are cancer-causing agents.

• People are exposed to secondhand smoke in the home, workplace and in public venues such as bars, bowling alleys and restaurants.

• Secondhand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States. For every eight smokers the tobacco industry kills, it takes one non-smoker with them.

• Secondhand smoke is associated with an increased risk for lung cancer and coronary heart disease in nonsmoking adults.

• An estimated 3,000 lung cancer deaths and 35,000 coronary heart disease deaths occur annually among adult nonsmokers in the United States as a result of exposure to secondhand smoke.

• Young children are particularly susceptible to secondhand smoke as their lungs are not fully developed. Exposure to secondhand smoke is associated with an increased risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), asthma, bronchitis and pneumonia.

• Each year, secondhand smoke is associated with an estimated 8,000-26,000 new asthma cases in children. Annually an estimated 150,000-300,000 new cases of bronchitis and pneumonia in children aged less than 18 months are associated with secondhand smoke exposure in the United States.

Information collected from the Centers for Disease Control Website, Accessed 8/2004

How to protect yourself

• If you smoke don’t smoke in your home and ask others not to smoke in your home as well.
• Dine in and support smoke-free establishments
• Know the laws or policies in your community. They are there to protect you, so insist that they are enforced.