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Fall 2007
Dangers of Secondhand SmokeDid you know that the more you hang around with smokers or in smoke-filled rooms, the greater your risk for lung cancer and heart disease?“Nearly 68,000 nonsmokers die each year from diseases caused by tobacco smoke,” says Eliot Friedman, M.D., oncologist at Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network. The risk is greatest for children. Secondhand smoke, or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), is now listed as a risk factor in its own right by the American Heart Association. Each time you’re exposed to tobacco smoke at home or in a vehicle or public place, you inhale a mix of toxic chemicals and carcinogens, the most dangerous air pollutant you’ll ever encounter, Friedman says. “People who are nonsmokers can’t overestimate the potential harm ETS does to them.” There is extra harm to children, whose developing lungs are more sensitive to carcinogens. “If both of a child’s parents smoke a pack a day for his first 12 years, his cancer risk doubles,” Friedman says. Children of smokers also are more prone to asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, earaches and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). “If someone close to you smokes, urge them to quit,” says Alice DallaPalu, executive director of the Coalition for a Smoke-Free Valley. “Don’t allow smoking in your home, car or child care center—and teach your children early about the dangers of tobacco use.” This page last updated 2/12/08 04:08 PM
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