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Health 52
Info Tip:
Secondhand Smoke and Children
With worksites, restaurants and other public places banning cigarette
smoking on their premises, many smokers rely on the sanctity of their homes
to light up, and this can put children of smokers at increased risk for
serious health problems.
Because their bodies are still developing, infants and young children are
especially vulnerable to secondhand smoke, also known as environmental
tobacco smoke.
This smoke contains more than 250 toxic or cancer-causing chemicals
including formaldehyde, benzene, arsenic, ammonia, and hydrogen cyanide.
The smoke lingers in the air hours after cigarettes are put out, and leads
to increased cases of pneumonia, bronchitis, ear infection and sudden infant
death syndrome.
Children with asthma experience more severe and more frequent attacks when
exposed to cigarette smoke. In general, children are exposed to more
secondhand smoke than nonsmoking adults, partly because adults can leave the
vicinity when they want to.
If you smoke, you can protect your family by only smoking outside your home
and vehicles. The inconvenience may be motivation to help you stop smoking
for your family’s health as well as your own.
Sources: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, American Cancer
Society
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