The Dangers of Secondhand Smoke | Pineville Pediatrics | Ballantyne Pediatrician

The Dangers of Secondhand Smoke

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Secondhand Smoke For more than five decades, we have known that smoking is harmful to smokers, but it was not until 25 years ago that doctors began to warn about the risk that secondhand smoke implies for nonsmokers. Tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 known chemicals (cadmium, plutonium, DDT, arsenic, and many more), of which at least 250 are harmful and about 50 are carcinogenic.

Effects At first, secondary smoke was thought to cause mostly mild effects such as eye irritation.

However, nowadays, most people know that “passive smokers� may present respiratory and cardiovascular disease, ENT, and even lung cancer. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, between 1964 and 2014, 2.5 million people died from exposure to secondhand smoke. Also, secondhand smoke is a cause of stroke.

Pregnancy and Secondary Smoking Reduction in the expected weight of the newborn.

Syndrome of sudden infant death.

Increased risk of premature births and miscarriages.

Placental alterations, such as premature detachment of the placenta and abnormal position of the placenta in the cervix), which increase pregnancy and childbirth complications.

Secondary Effects of Smoke in Children In children, secondhand smoke causes ear and respiratory infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia. In the same way, this issue leads to more frequent and severe asthma attacks among children. This increases the risks of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Secondhand Smoking Evolution Many studies of cotinine levels show that exposure to secondhand smoke has decreased in the United States over time. For example, during 1988–1991, almost 90 of every 100 (87.9%) nonsmokers had measurable levels of cotinine. Nowadays, about 25 of every 100 (25.3%) nonsmokers have measurable levels of cotinine. However, tobacco stills lead to life-threatening health problems.

If you want to protect your children from secondary smoke, do not allow anyone to smoke anywhere in your home. Besides, avoid anyone to smoke in your car. It is essential to check if your child’s daycare center or school is tobacco-free.

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