WORLD CANCER CAMPAIGN
English
fact sheet

Children and second-hand smoke exposure (*)

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Only 100% smoke-free environments
protect your children and family
from the very serious health problems
that breathing second-hand smoke
causes. Do not allow anyone
to smoke in your home. Demand all
indoor public places to be 100%
smoke-free.
  • Second-hand smoke (SHS), also known as environmental tobacco smoke, consists of both the smoke that is exhaled from the lungs of smokers and the smoke that is given off by a burning tobacco product between puffs.
  • Second-hand smoke contains hundreds of chemicals known to be toxic or cancer-causing.
  • The 2006 United States Surgeon General's Report concluded that there is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke and that even brief exposures can be harmful. (1)
  • About half of all children worldwide (700 million children) are exposed to second-hand smoke. (2)
  • Exposure is most common in Eastern Europe, where 8 of every 10 children report being exposed to second-hand smoke both at home and outside of the home. The prevalence of exposure is highest among children in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and Croatia, where nearly all of the children surveyed reported being exposed at home. (3)
  • A single cigarette smoked in a room with poor ventilation generates much higher concentrations of toxic substances in the air than normal, everyday activities in a city. (4)
  • Toxic compounds from second-hand smoke linger in the air for an extended period of time.
  • Nicotine from second-hand smoke is deposited on household surfaces and in dust.
  • The air quality found inside a car with someone smoking is similar to or worse than the air quality found in smoky pubs. (5)
  • Non-smokers who are exposed even briefly to a smoky environment take up and process (metabolize) the components of tobacco smoke.
  • Exposure to second-hand smoke in children increases risk of:
    • Low birth weight
    • Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
    • Ear infections
    • Poor lung development
    • Bronchitis and pneumonia
    • Asthma, cough, and wheeze
  • Being exposed to second-hand smoke as a child may lead to respiratory problems later in life.
  • Many countries have passed or are considering passing laws to prohibit or restrict smoking in public places, to protect children from exposure to second-hand smoke outside the home.
  • Even if smoking is banned in all public places, this approach will not protect children from second-hand smoke in the home. Exposure in the home is the most important source of exposure to second-hand smoke for young children.
  • Implementation of laws that restrict smoking outside the home does motivate some people to quit smoking (6-8) and encourages some families to implement smoke-free home rules. (9)
  • Educational efforts that warn smokers about the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and smoking while pregnant can influence the behavior of parents.
References

1. 1. US DHHS, editor. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office On Smoking and Health; 2006.

2. World Health Organization. International Consultation on Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) and Child Health. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 1999 January 11-14.

3. A cross-country comparison of exposure to second-hand smoke among youth. Tob Control 2006;15 Suppl 2:ii4-19.

4. IARC. Tobacco Smoke and Involuntary Smoking. Lyon: International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2004.

5. Edwards R, Wilson N, Pierse N. Highly hazardous air quality associated with smoking in cars: New Zealand pilot study. N Z Med J 2006;119(1244):U2294.

6. Fichtenberg CM, Glantz SA. Effect of smoke-free workplaces on smoking behaviour: systematic review. Bmj 2002;325(7357):188.

7. Borland R, Yong HH, Cummings KM, Hyland A, Anderson S, Fong GT. Determinants and consequences of smoke-free homes: findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Four Country Survey. Tob Control 2006;15 Suppl 3:iii42-50.

8. Fong GT, Hyland A, Borland R, Hammond D, Hastings G, McNeill A, et al. Reductions in tobacco smoke pollution and increases in support for smoke-free public places following the implementation of comprehensive smoke-free workplace legislation in the Republic of Ireland: findings from the ITC Ireland/UK Survey. Tob Control 2006;15 Suppl 3:iii51-8.

9. Merom D, Rissel C. Factors associated with smoke-free homes in NSW: results from the 1998 NSW Health Survey. Aust N Z J Public Health 2001;25(4):339-45.

(*) This fact sheet was prepared for the UICC secretariat by Dr Michael Thun and Ms Lindsay Hannan of the American Cancer Society, a UICC member organization.

 

 
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