Other People's Smoke

Every year, 434,000 people die of illnesses related to their smoking. But smokers are not the only ones whose health can suffer. Their tobacco smoke in the air is called environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) or secondhand smoke. Breathing it can be a hazard to your health and to the health of your child.

Secondhand smoke contains smaller amounts of the same chemicals that harm smokers. ETS is so harmful that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has classi- fied it as a "Group A" carcinogen. "Group A" carcinogens are the most toxic substances known to cause cancer in humans, also including benzene, radon, and asbestos.

The more often you're around secondhand smoke, the greater your risk for health problems. Each year it causes about 3,000 lung cancer deaths in U.S. adults who don't smoke. Secondhand smoke increases the nonsmoker's risk for heart disease and makes worse the symptoms of adults already suffering from asthma, allergies, or bronchitis.

Children are usually innocent victims­p;unable to choose whether or not to be in a smoke-filled environment. Among infants to 18 months of age, secondhand smoke is associated with as many as 300,000 cases of bronchitis and pneumonia each year. It also increases the chances for middle ear problems, causes coughing and wheezing, and worsens asthma conditions.

Facts like these show that other people's smoke is more than an annoyance. Secondhand smoke is a serious threat to your good health.

In 1992, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed the above findings in its study on the respiratory health effects of ETS. In addition, the EPA classified ETS as a Group A carcinogen. a category reserved only for the most dangerous cancer-causing agents in humans. The EPA report, a compilation of 30 epidemiological studies that focused on the health risks of nonsmokers with smoking spouses, concluded that there is a strong association between ETS exposure and lung cancer. Scientists estimate that ETS is responsible for approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths per year among nonsmokers in the United States. Recent studies and the EPA's report point to a 20. percent increased risk of lung cancer in nonsmokers due to ETS.

In response to evidence that ETS causes diseases beyond lung cancer and respiratory problems in children, the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) conducted a comprehensive assessment of the range of health effects connected with ETS exposure. In 1999, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) published the Cal/EPA's results as part of its Smoking and Tobacco Control monograph series in Health Effects of Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke. The following table outlines the health effects that were found to have a significant association with ETS exposure.

 
 

HOMENEXT PAGE