United States Department of Health and Human Services

The U.S. Surgeon General issued a report which concluded there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke. According to the report, non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work, increased their risk of developing heart disease by 25 to 30 percent and lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent.  

George Weiner, MD, director of the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center says it's hard to tell, "but we do know from looking at blood tests for evidence of exposure to nicotine, that about approximately 43 percent of non-smokers in the US have been exposed to secondhand smoke. This number is much better than it was in 1990, when that percentage was actually 88 percent. But it still means that there are over 125 million non-smoking U.S. residents exposed to secondhand smoke. And this includes children as young as four years and even younger. Essentially 100 percent of those children have evidence of exposure to secondhand smoke. It's not just adults."

Weiner says there are certain people with respiratory problems such as asthma or emphysema, who can be affected by even very brief exposure to secondhand smoke. "It's not clear how much exposure is needed in order to induce the increased cancer risks and the increased heart attack risks. I think it's pretty safe to say that any exposure to secondhand smoke is bad."

In addition to heart and lung disease, Weiner says there's the suggestion that other types of cancer, including cancer of the throat, as well as breast cancer, are increased in people exposed to secondhand smoke.

"There's also strong evidence that secondhand smoke can impact pregnant women and their newborn infants. There's increased incidence of preterm delivery, most likely low-birth weight infants, and there's even a suggestion of increased incidence of sudden infant death syndrome, as well as childhood cancers in people exposed to secondhand smoke. Finally, in the older population, there's the suggestion that stroke is more common in people exposed to secondhand smoke," he says.  

Ventilation systems are better than nothing, but they do not eliminate secondhand smoke, Weiner says, and the data suggests that really the only way to do so is to ban smoking in public places and places of employment.

To reduce the amount of second-hand smoke you're exposed to, Weiner suggests:

• Checking to see if the places you're going are smoke free; not just with the smoking and non-smoking sections, but actually smoke free  

• Working with your employer to assure that your working environment is smoke free

• Telling friends and colleagues that you'd prefer they not smoke around you and certainly not smoke around your children

• Contacting your legislators to be sure public policy supports smoke free public places. Weiner says Iowa has a mixed record at best with respect to doing this. "There are many organizations in the state working toward becoming more smoke free and avoiding what we call involuntary smoking.

"To learn more about them, you can contact our Cancer Information Service at 800-237-1225."  

Starting July 1, UI Hospitals and Clinics became a smoke-free facility. "We actually have known much of the information from the Surgeon General's report for some time. So the decision made by our hospital, which I'm very proud of, and the other hospitals across the state, to go smoke free was made prior to the report coming out.

"The report, though, really helped highlight this to the public and we hope this report raises awareness about the risks of secondhand smoke across the state," Weiner said   

"I think the smoking ban will decrease the amount of exposure to secondhand smoke that currently takes place as we walk indoors through some of the smoking areas. I also think t it actually makes a statement. Our purpose is to promote the health and welfare of the people of the state of Iowa, and by going smoke free, hopefully we will help set an example for other organizations across the state to do the same," he says.