Does Secondhand Smoke Raise Your Risk of Health Problems?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), The U.S. National Toxicology Program, and the World Health Organization have classified secondhand smoke as a Group A carcinogen. This designation means there is evidence that it causes cancer in humans. This is not a classification that is taken lightly. Only fifteen other substances have been classified by the EPA as carcinogens. Of all pollutants given the Group A carcinogen classification, only secondhand smoke has been shown to cause cancer at typical environmental levels.

In a report released by the EPA I 1993, the EPA looked at numerous finding that showed breathing secondhand smoke exposes non-smokers to the same pollutants as smokers and increases their risk of lung cancer. The pollution that children come in contact with through secondhand smoke has been widely shown to cause respiratory health problems in children.

According to the EPA, every year, approximately 150,000-300,000 children under the age of 18 months contracts pneumonia or bronchitis as a result of breathing in secondhand smoke. In addition to contributing to new cases of asthma and bronchitis, secondhand smoke is responsible for increasing the frequency and severity of asthma attacks in as many as one million children a year.

Secondhand Smoke Increases Risk of Serious Health Problems

While it is not surprising that secondhand smoke causes lung disease and breathing difficulties among non-smokers, there are other health concerns to consider. Exposure to secondhand smoke has been linked to:

• An increased risk of heart disease among non-smokers who live with smokers

• Increased risk of lung cancers

• Increased breathing difficulties including reduced lung function, congestion, and, persistent coughing

• Increased middle ear infections in children

• Low birth- weight babies among women exposed to secondhand smoke during pregnancy

Of the 4,000 chemical compounds found in tobacco smoke, 60 are known or suspected of causing cancer. The longer non-smokers are exposed to secondhand smoke, the greater their risk of health problems.

A recent study released in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (Aug. 20, 2010) shows that damage begins at the cellular level after the first small amounts of tobacco smoke exposure and that this initial damage may be enough to trigger lung diseases including cancer.

Other Potential Health Risks Related to Secondhand Smoke

According to the 2006 report from the Surgeon General further suggestions that secondhand smoke may also be related to:

• Increased breast cancer risk among women

• Increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

• Impaired lung function and development in children

The 2006 report concludes there is no scientific evidence of a safe level of secondhand smoke and measures should be taken to prevent nonsmokers from coming in contact with the environmental pollutants found in tobacco smoke.

References:

Secondhand Smoke: What is Secondhand Smoke, (n.d.) Cancer.Org-online, Retrieved from http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerCauses/TobaccoCancer/secondhand-smoke

Esther Barreiro, Víctor I. Peinado, Juan B. Galdiz, Elisabet Ferrer, Judith Marin-Corral, Francisco Sánchez, Joaquim Gea, Joan Albert Barberà, Cigarette Smoke-induced Oxidative Stress: A Role in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Skeletal Muscle Dysfunction, Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 182: 477-488. First published online as doi:10.1164/rccm.200908-1220OC