Eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke

The Facts:

Secondhand smoke contains a complex mixture of more than 50 chemicals that are known or probable cancer-causing agents in humans. No level of exposure is safe.

Secondhand smoke causes the same serious illnesses as active smoking: lung cancer, heart disease in adults, and increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), asthma attacks, pneumonia and ear infections in infants and children.

Though they are not smokers themselves, an estimated 1,000 Massachusetts children and adults die each year from exposure to secondhand smoke.

Those at greatest risk of exposure to secondhand smoke are children, the poor, the less educated, and those who suffer from mental illness and other disabilities.

Massachusetts residents are particularly vulnerable to secondhand smoke in multiunit subsidized housing. Many of these individuals are elderly and disabled, and already suffer from emphysema, cardiovascular disease, and other conditions greatly exacerbated by secondhand smoke.

Changing attitudes and behavior to eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke, particularly among members of high-risk groups, is a top priority.

Where we are now .....

Massachusetts has made tremendous strides in protecting its residents from secondhand smoke, including enactment of the Massachusetts Smoke-free Workplace Law in July 2004. However, noticeable gaps in protection persist.

Thousands of children and adults are still exposed to secondhand smoke in their homes, in cars, in multi-unit dwellings (apartments, condos, and college dorms), and certain outdoor venues.

Additional resources are needed to enforce the smokefree workplace law, especially in schools, where smoking in student and staff bathrooms remains a problem.

Asthma rates have more than doubled in Massachusetts in the past 20 years, and New England records the highest asthma rates in the U.S. Secondhand smoke is a known trigger for asthma attacks in both children and adults.

The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Children are Hurt by Secondhand Smoke

• Secondhand smoke contains more than 250 chemicals known to be toxic or carcinogenic (cancer-causing), including formaldehyde, benzene, vinyl chloride, arsenic, ammonia, and hydrogen cyanide. Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke are inhaling many of the same cancer-causing substances and poisons as smokers.

Health Effects of Secondhand Smoke in Children

• Because their bodies are developing, infants and young children are especially vulnerable to the poisons in secondhand smoke.
• Both babies whose mothers smoke while pregnant and babies who are exposed to secondhand smoke after birth are more likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) than babies who are not exposed to cigarette smoke.
• Mothers who are exposed to secondhand smoke while pregnant are more likely to have lower birth weight babies, which makes babies weaker and increases the risk for many health problems.
• Babies whose mothers smoke while pregnant or who are exposed to secondhand smoke after birth have weaker lungs than other babies, which increase the risk for many health problems.
• Secondhand smoke exposure causes acute lower respiratory infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia in infants and young children.
• Secondhand smoke exposure causes children who already have asthma to experience more frequent and severe attacks.
• Secondhand smoke exposure causes respiratory symptoms, including cough, phlegm, wheeze, and breathlessness, among school-aged children.
• Children exposed to secondhand smoke are at increased risk for ear infections and are more likely to need an operation to insert ear tubes for drainage.

Exposure to Secondhand Smoke Among Children

• The Surgeon General has concluded that there is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke exposure. Even brief exposures can be harmful.
• On average, children are exposed to more secondhand smoke than nonsmoking adults.
• Based on levels of cotinine (a biological marker of secondhand smoke exposure), an estimated 22 million children aged 3-11 years and 18 million youth aged 12-19 years, were exposed to secondhand smoke in the United States in 2000.
• Children aged 3-11 years and youth aged 12-19 years are significantly more likely than adults to live in a household with at least one smoker.
• Children aged 3-11 years have cotinine levels more than twice as high as nonsmoking adults.
• Children who live in homes where smoking is allowed have higher cotinine levels than children who live in homes where smoking is not allowed.

Information contained on this highlight sheet has been taken directly from The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General.