The
Effects Of Second Hand Smoke On Your Family
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.
- This mixture contains more
than 4,000 substances, more than 40 of which are known
to cause cancer in humans or animals and many of which
are strong irritants.
- Secondhand smoke is also
called environmental tobacco smoke (ETS); exposure to
secondhand smoke is called involuntary smoking, or
passive smoking.
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- Secondhand smoke has been
classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) as a known cause of lung cancer in humans (Group A
carcinogen).
- Passive smoking is
estimated by EPA to cause approximately 3,000 lung
cancer deaths in nonsmokers each year.
- The developing lungs of
young children are also affected by exposure to
secondhand smoke.
- Infants and young children
whose parents smoke are among the most seriously
affected by exposure to secondhand smoke, being at
increased risk of lower respiratory tract infections
such as pneumonia and bronchitis. EPA estimates that
passive smoking is responsible for between 150,000 and
300,000 lower respiratory tract infections in infants
and children under 18 months of age annually, resulting
in between 7,500 and 15,000 hospitalizations each year.
- Children exposed to
secondhand smoke are also more likely to have reduced
lung function and symptoms of respiratory irritation
like cough, excess phlegm, and wheeze.
- Passive smoking can lead
to buildup of fluid in the middle ear, the most common
cause of hospitalization of children for an operation.
- Asthmatic children are
especially at risk. EPA estimates that exposure to
secondhand smoke increases the number of episodes and
severity of symptoms in hundreds of thousands of
asthmatic children. EPA estimates that between 200,000
and 1,000,000 asthmatic children have their condition
made worse by exposure to secondhand smoke. Passive
smoking may also cause thousands of non-asthmatic
children to develop the condition each year.
- Exposure to secondhand
smoke causes irritation of the eye, nose, and throat.
- Passive smoking can also
irritate the lungs, leading to coughing, excess phlegm,
chest discomfort, and reduced lung function.
- Secondhand smoke may
affect the cardiovascular system, and some studies have
linked exposure to secondhand smoke with the onset of
chest pain.
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