Secondhand Smoke: Facts & Figures

• Secondhand smoke, also known as Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) is a combination of the smoke exhaled from the lungs of a smoker and the smoke given off from the burning end of the cigarette (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1996)
• There is overwhelming scientific evidence that secondhand smoke is a direct cause of: lung cancer, heart disease, lung and bronchial infections, emphysema, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), eye irritation, weakened sense of smell, hearing loss, vision problems, increased headaches, asthma, and ear infection (Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and Centers for Disease Prevention and Control)
• Nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke are exposed to about 4,000 chemical compounds, including formaldehyde, cyanide, ammonia, nicotine, carbon monoxide, and cancer-causing agents such as benzene, asbestos, and N-nitrosamines (Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, 1996)
• It takes more than 3 hours to remove 95% of the smoke from just one cigarette from the room once smoking has ended (St. Louis University Public Law Review)

SECONDHAND SMOKE AND MORTALITY

• Secondhand smoke is responsible for at least 40,000 deaths each year in the United States, including 1,900 from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), 3,000 from lung cancer, and at least 35,000 from heart disease (National Cancer Institute, 1999)
• The National Cancer Institute determined that lifelong nonsmokers living with smokers have, on average, a 24% higher chance of developing lung cancer than those living with nonsmokers (Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, 2003)
• Secondhand smoke kills more Americans each year than drug abuse and causes the same number of deaths each year as those who died in the Vietnam War (Circulation, 1991)

SECONDHAND SMOKE AND CANCER

• Secondhand smoke is a known human carcinogen comparable to the most potent cancer-causing agents such as benzene, asbestos, arsenic, and vinyl chloride. There is NO KNOWN SAFE EXPOSURE. (Environmental Protection Agency, 1993)
• Nonsmoking workers exposed to secondhand smoke are 34% more likely to DEVELOP lung cancer. Waiters and waitresses have a 50% greater risk of lung cancer than other workers mostly because of secondhand smoke exposure (National Cancer Institute, 1999)
• People who are routinely exposed to large amounts of secondhand smoke, such as workers in bars and restaurants, can see their risk of lung cancer triple (International Journal of Cancer, 2001)

SECONDHAND SMOKE AND HEART DISEASE

• Exposure to secondhand smoke is estimated to increase the risk of heart disease in nonsmokers by 30%, causing an estimated 35,000 to 62,000 deaths a year due to ischemic heart disease (Environmental Protection Agency, 1993)
• Nonsmokers living with smokers have a 30% increase in the risk of death from heart attack or ischemic heart disease (New England Journal of Medicine, 1994)
• The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) recommends that anyone with any risk for heart disease, including high blood pressure and high cholesterol, avoid exposure to secondhand smoke even for short periods of time (British Medical Journal, 2004)
• Only 30 minutes of exposure to secondhand smoke puts the cardiovascular system (heart) of a nonsmoker in the same state as a regular smoker (JAMA, 2001)
• Health Effects of Short-Term Exposure to Secondhand Smoke on the Heart
  • 5 Minutes of Exposure = Smoking A Cigarette
  
  Five minutes of exposure to secondhand smoke stiffens the aorta as much as smoking a cigarette
  • 20 Minutes of Exposure = Smoking A Pack of Cigarettes A Day
  
  Twenty minutes of breathing secondhand smoke activates blood platelets involved in the clotting process as much as smoking does in pack-a-day smokers, thus increasing the risk of heart attack
  • 30 Minutes of Exposure = Stiffened, Clogged Arteries
    A nonsmoker’s coronary arteries can dilate and boost flow to heart muscle better than a smoker’s. After half an hour of secondhand smoke exposure, a nonsmoker’s arteries lose the ability to dilate to the same extent as a pack-a-day smoker’s. Thirty minutes exposure also compromises the ability of your blood to manage LDL (“Bad”) cholesterol
  • 2 Hours of Exposure = Greater Risk of Irregular Heartbeat
    Breathing secondhand smoke can speed up your heart rate and reduce “heart rate variability” – small, random variations in heartbeat. Reductions in heart rate variability signal problems in the nervous system’s control of the heart, increasing the chance of an irregular heart beat (arrhythmia) that can itself be fatal or trigger a heart attack
    These health effects can take as long as 48 hours to reverse themselves. All of these effects increase the long-term risks of developing heart disease and increase the immediate risk of heart attack.