Tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 substances, of which more than 40 are known to cause cancer.
These carcinogens include:
arsenic. nickel, chromium, cadmium, lead, polonium-210, vinyl chloride, formaldehyde, benz(a)anthracene, benzo[b]fouoranthene, benzo[j]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, chrysene, dibenz[a,h]anthracene, dibenzo[a,I]pyrene, dibenzo[a,l]pyrene, indeno [1,2,3-c,d]pyrene, 5-methylchrysene, quinoline, dibenz[a,h]acridine, dibenz[a,j]acridine, 7H-dibenzo[c,g]carbazole, N-nitrosodimethylamine, N-nitrosoethylmethylamine, N-nitrosodiethylamine, N-snitrosopyrrolidine, N-nitrosodimethylamine, N’-nitrosonornicotine, 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone, N’-nitrosoanabasine, N-nitrosomorpholine, 2-toluidine, 2-naphthylamine, 4-aminobiphenyl, acetaldehyde, crotonaldehyde, benzene, acrylonitrile, 1,1-dimethylhydrazine, 2-nitropropane, ethylcarbamate, hydrazine.
Even if smoking is restricted to a single room, the harmful constituents of cigarette smoke can be dispersed throughout the house. Many of these highly dangerous chemicals are in invisible gas form.
Second-hand smoke (which is sometimes called environmental tobacco smoke or ETS) contains toxic substances, over 40 of which cause cancer. Some of these substances are in stronger concentrations in second-hand smoke than they are in the smoke that goes directly into smokers’ lungs.
ETS is causally linked with a number of adverse health effects in children (under 18), including:
- lower respiratory tract infections (i.e. croup, bronchitis and pneumonia)
- increased fluid in the middle ear
- upper respiratory tract irritation
- reduced lung function
- additional episodes of asthma
- increased severity of asthmatic symptoms in children
- reduced oxygen flow to tissues, comparable to children with anemia, cyanotic heart disease or chronic lung disease †
ETS is also associated with:
- Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
- acute middle ear infections (otitis media)
- tonsillectomy
- meningococcal infections
- cancers and leukemias in childhood
- slower growth
- adverse neurobehavioural effects
- upper respiratory tract infections (colds and sore throats)
- unfavorable cholesterol levels and initiation of atherosclerosis (heart disease)
Why kids are especially vulnerable
Young children are especially vulnerable to second-hand smoke in the home because:
- they breathe more air relative to body weight (and for the same level of exposure will absorb more tobacco smoke toxins)
- they are less able to complain (either because they are too young, or because their complaints are ignored)
- their immune system is less protective
- they are less able to remove themselves from exposure
