| Secondhand smoke is a mix of the smoke created by the burning ends of cigarettes, cigars and pipes and the smoke exhaled by someone who is smoking. In 2010, the U.S. Surgeon General issued the report: How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease. The report concluded "There is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke. Any exposure to tobacco smoke – even an occasional cigarette or exposure to secondhand smoke – is harmful."
Secondhand smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, including at least 69 carcinogens. In 2006, the Surgeon General found that secondhand smoke is a proven cause of lung cancer, heart disease, serious respiratory illnesses such as bronchitis and asthma, low birth weight and sudden infant death syndrome. The Surgeon General also found that secondhand smoke is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths in the United States each year.
Only smoke-free air laws provide effective protection from secondhand smoke.
2010 U.S. Surgeon General's Report: How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease
2006 U.S. Surgeon General's Report: Secondhand Smoke Exposure in the Workplace
U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention: Secondhand Smoke
Tobacco Free Nebraska: Secondhand Smoke
For more information, contact:
Toll-Free: 1-877-633-7331
E-mail: SmokeFree Info |
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