Passive smoking Effects

Passive smoking is the involuntary inhalation of cigarette smoke of other people's cigarettes. Passive smoking, secondary smoke, second hand smoke or environmental tobacco smoke all relate to the same thing - that being the involuntary inhalation of tobacco smoke. Cigarette smoke is generally defined as either the exhaled smoke from a smoker or the 'sidestream' smoke from the cigarette tip. It is made up of over 4,000 chemicals of which, 40 or so are known to cause cancer, including numerous hydrocarbons, arsenic and polonium.

Smokers choose to inhale this noxious combination of chemicals and carcinogens but non-smokers do not. In the case of children or babies, there is normally no choice whatsoever and it is estimated that some 700 million children around the world are exposed to secondary smoke from the 1.2 billion smokers in the global population.

It is well documented now that secondary smoke or passive smoking has some adverse affects on the passive smoker and most significantly when they are children. Indeed, in an extract from the 1997 Declaration of the Environment Leaders of the Eight (G8) on Children's Environmental Health, they stated;

"We affirm that environmental tobacco smoke is a significant public health risk to young children and that parents need to know about the risks of smoking in the home around their young children. We agree to co-operate on education and public awareness efforts aimed at reducing children's exposure to environmental tobacco smoke."

So, what evidence is the G8 working from and why should we care? Well, a review by the World Health Organization in 1998 concluded that passive smoking is a cause of bronchitis, pneumonia, coughing and wheezing, asthma attacks, middle ear infection, cot death, and possibly cardiovascular and neurobiological impairment in children. Furthermore, a report in 1992 by the Royal College of Physicians in London estimates that 17,000 under 5s are admitted to hospitals in the UK every year as a direct result of passive smoking.

A report from Hong Kong in 2001 concluded that children living in homes where there are two or more smokers are 30% more likely to be admitted to hospital for treatment than those living in a smoke-free house.

UK reports from 2000 and 2001 have found that environmental tobacco smoke has a detrimental effect on children of any age and also that asthma is more prevalent in smoking households. It is thought that between 1,000 and 5,400 new cases of asthma are solely attributable to passive smoking every year in the UK.

A further report from Britain in 2006 linked smoking with a three-fold increase in the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), commonly called cot death. Many other studies have found environmental tobacco smoke exposure to directly correlate with increased incidences of ear infections, meningitis, mental impairment, autism, subdued vitamin C levels and poorer sense of smell and taste. On top of these malaises, there have also been found, links between childhood exposure to tobacco smoke and the risk of cancer in later life and with general malaise. A Norwegian study found that adults who had been exposed to smoke during their childhood had poorer attendance levels in their adult life at work.

Studies in Britain have found that there is widespread acknowledgement that passive smoking is not only bad for children but also for adults. However, the specific risks that increase because of passive smoking are not well known. The majority of people cited chest infections and increased risk of asthma as the most common outcomes of passive smoking. Two more common outcomes of environmental tobacco smoke in infants are cot death and glue ear (ear infection), but this was not recognised by most respondents in the survey. Despite this, two thirds of smokers say that they do not smoke in the same room as children and a quarter state that they would smoke less in the company of a child because of their knowledge of the dangers of secondary smoke.

In order to protect children, there are a number of things that parent should do to try and minimise their child's exposure to tobacco smoke:

Smokers should try to smoke only outside. If you must smoke inside limit smoking to a room where you can open windows to allow adequate ventilation. Smokers should never smoke in a child's bedroom and must not allow anyone else to smoke there. Smokers should not smoke while washing, dressing or playing with children. Finally, smokers should never smoke in the car with the windows closed or open.

Some children rights campaigners suggest that exposing children to cigarette smoke is a form of child abuse and should be punished accordingly. I am inclined to agree with them.

Pete Howells owns the website http://easyquitsystem.com and has devised a simple system that will help any smoker quit by giving them the instructions they need to follow to achieve their ambition to quit. Please visit http://easyquitsystem.com to find out more about his incredible process for quitting smoking.

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