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Secondhand Smoke

Peer Review Status: Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, Cancer Information Service
First Published: November 2002
Last Revised: April 2003

• Formaldehyde
• Carbon monoxide
• Arsenic
• Cyanide

The dangers to adults who live or work in a smoke-filled environment are increased risks for:

• Lung cancer is responsible for 3,000 deaths, in nonsmokers, in the United States annually
• Heart attacks
• Strokes

Infants and children are more affected by secondhand smoke, since their lung tissues are still being developed. Each year, smoking around children is responsible for:

• 40% of SIDS cases (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) caused by mothers smoking during and/or after pregnancy or another person smoking in the house
• 150,000 to 300,000 respiratory infections in infants under 18 months of age annually.
• 15,000 hospitalizations of children each year
• 26,000 new cases of asthma annually
• The presence of fluid in the middle ear, a sign of chronic middle ear disease

To reduce your exposure to secondhand smoke:

• If you smoke, quit.
• Keep smoke away from you and your family by asking people not to smoke in your home.
• Make sure your child's day care and schools are smoke-free.
• Use 'No Smoking' signs, stickers, etc. at home, at work, and in your car.
• Eat in smoke-free environments.
• If your work site is not smoke-free, work to make it smoke-free.