Classroom Publication

Secondhand smoking is almost as dangerous to a person’s health as first-hand. Secondhand smoke contains at least 250 chemicals known to be toxic, including more than 50 that can cause cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Health Effects of Secondhand smoke exposure, as reported by the CDC include:
• Secondhand smoke exposure causes heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults.
• Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work increase their heart disease risk by 25–30% and their lung cancer risk by 20–30%.
• Breathing secondhand smoke has immediate harmful effects on the cardiovascular system that can increase the risk of heart attack. People who already have heart disease are at especially high risk.
• Secondhand smoke exposure causes respiratory symptoms in children and slows their lung growth.
• Secondhand smoke causes sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), acute respiratory infections, ear problems, and more frequent and severe asthma attacks in children.2
• There is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke exposure. Even brief exposure can be dangerous.

Each of the aforementioned effects should educate people, and help them decide if they want to be in an area with secondhand smoke. There are only negative health effects, involved with secondhand smoke.

The CDC reports that more than 126 million Americans continue to be exposed to secondhand smoke in homes, vehicles, workplaces, and public places. They also report that 22 million children from ages 3-11 in the U.S. are exposed to secondhand smoke. The secondhand exposure is also responsible for 150,000–300,000 new cases of bronchitis and pneumonia in children less than 18 months old, which results in 7,500–15,000 hospitalizations annually.

Secondhand smoke is very dangerous to anyone’s health. Even with separating smokers from nonsmokers, cleaning the air, and ventilating buildings, there is only one way of protecting the health of non-smokers; eliminate smoking.

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