Secondhand Smoke

Health Consequences of Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS)

ETS is a proven health hazard.  The 1986 Surgeon General’s report on involuntary smoking concluded that exposure to ETS can cause lung cancer: non-smoking spouses have nearly a doubled risk of developing lung cancer if their spouses are heavy smokers. Research reviewed in the reports the Surgeon General, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found that secondhand tobacco smoke was harmful, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that ETS causes 3,000 lung cancer deaths each year in the United States. In addition, scientific studies published in peer-reviewed journals on both animals and human subjects indicate that non-smokers exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke have higher death rates from heart disease.

ETS has been classified as a Group A (known human) carcinogen, as have asbestos and benzene. Non-smokers subjected to ETS are exposed to nicotine, carbon monoxide, and other cancer-causing agents. A recent study found that non-smokers exposed to ETS only at work had significantly higher levels of nicotine metabolite in their blood than non-smokers reporting no workplace exposure.

The EPA concluded that children with asthma have their condition worsened by exposure to ETS. Yet children often spend considerable amounts of time in the worksites of adults (e.g., schools, restaurants).

More people die from ETS than all other regulated occupational substances combined.

Taken from Making Your Workplace Smoke-free: A Decision Maker’s Guide

SHS- What’s in it?

• Tobacco smoke contains around 4,000 different chemicals. Many of them are poisonous and some can cause cancer. Three of the main components are:
• Nicotine - a powerful, addictive drug. It increases the heart rate and blood pressure, and affects mood and behavior. Nicotine is also an insecticide.
• Tar - many of the substances in tar are known to cause cancer. It can also damage the lungs.
• Carbon monoxide - a gas that takes the place of oxygen in the bloody, making the lungs less efficient and stopping cells and tissues getting the oxygen they need to work properly. Carbon monoxide is the poisonous gas found in car exhaust fumes.

Other chemicals in tobacco smoke include:

• Benzine - a poisonous gas found in petrol fumes, known to cause leukaemia
• Ethanol - used in anti-freeze
• Ammonia - used in anti-personnel spray and cleaning products
• Formaldehyde - an embalming fluid
• Hydrogen cyanide - an industrial pollutant
• Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) - a cancer-causing chemical also found in diesel exhaust and other combustion products

In the table below, you’ll find examples of other chemicals found in SHS and their common use.

Source: 2002 Regents of the University of California

http://www.tobaccoscam.ucsf.edu/Secondhand/Secondhand_ti.cfm

Also taken from CMO Annual Report 2003

Taken from http://www.givingupsmoking.co.uk/shsmoke/shs_what/

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