Effects of Secondhand Smoke

1. Effects of Secondhand Smoke Pat McKone, Director American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest

3. We’ve come a long way since,…

4. What is Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) ..Secondhand smoke?

5. Indoor Air Pollution 90% of time spent indoors

6. Surgeon General Report

7. What’s in Tobacco Smoke? • Particulates • carbon monoxide • nicotine • benzene • nitrosamines • polycyclic hydrocarbons • 3,000 - 4,000 others

9. It’s a serious danger to health • Secondhand smoke is a leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. • Mokdad, AH et al. “Actual Causes of Death in the United States, 2000.”JAMA. 2004; 291: 1238-1245. • Secondhand smoke causes at least 38,000 deaths annually in U.S. • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Annual smoking-attributable mortality, years of potential life lost, and productivity losses.” MMWR. 2005; 54: 625-628 • Hundreds of studies have documented secondhand smoke as a cause of serious health problems.

10. U.S. Surgeon General’s 2006 Report Conclusions No Risk Free Level of Exposure

11. Tobacco Smoke • The concentration of some chemicals in side-stream smoke is 10 x greater than in main-stream smoke .

12. Health Effects on Children • Fetal growth retardation • SIDS • Respiratory problems in children • Asthma in children • Eye and nasal irritation • Middle ear infections in children • Lung cancer • Nasal sinus cancer • Heart disease • Mortality due to heart disease (1997 Comprehensive Study by Cal EPA)

13. Other Health Effects • Pre-term delivery • Asthma induction in adults • Breast cancer in younger (primarily pre-menopausal) women • Acute and chronic heart disease • Altered vascular properties • About 49,000 deaths (not including breast cancer) (2005 Report Expanded Impacts)

14. Effects on the Heart • Interferes with normal functioning of the heart, blood and vascular systems • Increases “stickiness” of platelets even with brief exposures • Damages the lining of blood vessels

16. Lung Cancer • All major health authorities agree that secondhand smoke causes cancer: • U.S. Surgeon General linked SHS to lung cancer. • U.S. Dept of Health & Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Smoking: AReport of the Surgeon General. 1986; p. 7 • Classified as a Group A carcinogen by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, meaning it is known to cause cancer in humans. • U.S. EPA, Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking: Lung Cancer and Other Disorders. 1992; p. 5-68

18. Lung Cancer

20. Ventilation • According to ASHRAE, the organization that establishes industry standards for ventilation: • The only means of effectively eliminating health risks associated with indoor exposure to SHS is to ban smoking activity. • Engineering approaches, such as ventilation and air cleaning, cannot be relied on to control the health risks associated with SHS exposure. • Samet, J et al. “ASHRAE position document on environmental tobacco smoke.” 2005.

21. Thirdhand smoke • Residual chemicals left on a variety of indoor surfaces • The science is still emerging

22. What can we do? • Only Smoke-free policies fully protect • NO SMOKING sections do not protect • Cleaning the air or ventilating buildings does not fully protect non-smokers