Secondhand Smoke 

Effects on Adults and Children

  • What is seconhand smoke
  • Health problems in adults
  • Health problems during pregnancy
  • Health problems in children
  • Making your home smoke-free
  • Secondhand smoke at work


    • Facts about secondhand smoke
  • Secondhand smoke is the smoke from the burning end of a cigarette and the smoke that a smoker blows out into the air.
  • Secondhand smoke can cause serious health problems, including lung cancer, in healthy nonsmokers.
  • Tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, and at least 43 of these chemicals are known to cause cancer in humans or animals.

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    What health problems does secondhand smoke cause in adults?

    Some 53,000 nonsmokers (nationwide) die each year from secondhandsmoke¡X3,000 of them from lung cancer.

    Secondhand smoke:

  • can lead to heart disease and make asthma worse;
  • causes coughing, phlegm (thick mucus in the airways), chest discomfort, and reduced lung function; and
  • causes less serious problems such as reddening, itching, and watering of the eyes.

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    Pregnancy and secondhand smoke

  • Babies are 3 times more likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) if their mothers smoke during and after pregnancy.
  • If you are pregnant, don't smoke.
  • If you know someone who is pregnant and smokes, help her quit.

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    What about children and secondhand smoke?

  • Children from birth to 2 years of age are especially vulnerable to secondhand smoke because their lungs are not fully developed.
  • Even though you may stop smoking during pregnancy, starting smoking afterwards makes your baby twice as likely to die from SIDS.
  • If a mother breastfeeds and smokes, her baby gets nicotine with every meal. Nicotine stays in the breast milk for up to 5 hours after smoking.
  • Children who live with smokers are more likely to develop:
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  • asthma and allergies
  • bronchitis
  • colds, coughs, and sore throats
  • ear infections
  • pneumonia
  • reduced lung function 
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  • It is also important that your child's daycare is smoke-free.

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    Ear infections and secondhand smoke
  • Ear infections cause most of children's hearing loss.
  • Secondhand smoke increases the number of ear infections your child will get. It also makes the infection last longer.
  • Smoke that is breathed in through the nose irritates the Eustachian tube (the tube that connects the back of the nose with the middle ear). The middle ear may swell and shut, and keep the ear from having normal pressure. Abnormal pressure, ear fluid, and infection may cause pain in the middle ear.

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    How to make and keep your home smoke-free 

    What about guests?

  • Do not allow people to smoke around you and your child.
  • It may feel awkward at first to tell people not to smoke in your home¡Xno one wants to make their guests uncomfortable¡Xbut if you explain the facts about secondhand smoke, most people will understand and respect your request.
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  • Tell them that for the sake of your and your family's health, you can not allow smoking in your home. 
  • Offer vegetable sticks, gum, fruit, or mints as an alternative to smoking. 
  • If your guests must smoke, ask them to go outside. 
  • Blowing smoke away, going into another room to smoke, or opening a window will not protect children or others from the dangers of second-hand smoke.
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    What about family members?
  • If someone in your household smokes, encourage him or her to quit. Let the person know that tobacco smoke affects everyone, not just the smoker.
  • Group Health offers a stop smoking program called Free & Clear. For information about this program, call 206-287-2527 or 1-800-462-5327 outside the Seattle dialing area.

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    What about secondhand smoke at work?

  • Exposure to secondhand smoke in the workplace has been linked to lung cancer.
  • Under a new State rule, smoking in office environments is permitted only in designated rooms with separate ventilation systems or outside.

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