 What
Is Secondhand Smoke?
Secondhand smoke is also known as Environmental Tobacco Smoke.
Secondhand smoke includes both exhaled mainstream smoke from smokers
and sidestream smoke from the end of a cigarette, cigar, or pipe.
Secondhand smoke contains more than 4,000 substances, including
over 40 that are linked to cancer. Many of the compounds in tobacco
smoke are released at higher rates in sidestream smoke than in mainstream
smoke.
How Does Secondhand Smoke Relate To Asthma?
Secondhand smoke may trigger asthma episodes and make asthma symptoms
more severe in children who already have asthma. Moreover, secondhand
smoke is a risk factor for new cases of asthma in children who have
not previously exhibited asthma symptoms.
The means by which secondhand smoke triggers an asthma episode
is believed to be through its irritancy effects. That is, smoke
irritates the chronically inflamed bronchial passages of asthmatics.
This is a different pathway from most of the other environmental
triggers of asthma, like dust mites and pet dander, which trigger
asthma episodes through allergenic effects.
Exposure to secondhand smoke is also known to cause a variety of
other negative health consequences, including lung cancer, ear infections
in children, and respiratory illnesses.
Many of the health effects of secondhand smoke (including asthma)
are most clearly manifested in children. This is because children
are particularly vulnerable to secondhand smoke. This is likely
due to several factors, including the fact that children are still
developing physically, have higher breathing rates than adults,
and have little control over their indoor environments. Children
receiving high doses of secondhand smoke, such as those with smoking
mothers, run the greatest relative risk of experiencing damaging
health effects.
Actions You Can Take
Choose not to smoke in your home or car and do not permit others
to do so either.
Choose not to smoke in the presence of asthmatics.
Choose not to smoke in the presence of children, who are particularly
susceptible to the effects of secondhand smoke.
Do not allow babysitters or others who work in your home to smoke
in the house or near your children.
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