Second-Hand Smoke Facts

Second-hand smoke causes disease and death in healthy non-smokers.

• Exposure for as little as 8 to 20 minutes causes physical reactions linked to heart and stroke disease:
• the heart rate increases;
• the heart's oxygen supply decreases;
• blood vessels constrict which increases blood pressure and makes the heart work harder.

The health effects on children exposed to second-hand smoke include Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and breathing problems in children as young as 18 months of age.

Children exposed to second-hand smoke in their homes are more likely to suffer breathing problems such as asthma and damage to their lungs. Children are twice as likely to smoke if their parents are smokers.

If you are a non-smoker, exposure to second-hand smoke increases your chance of lung cancer by 25%, heart disease by 10%, and cancer of the sinuses, brain, breast, uterine cervix, thyroid, as well as leukemia and lymphoma.

Although only 3 in 10 people report being exposed to second-hand smoke, 9 in 10 people have detectable levels in their bodies. The test measures exposure that has occurred over the last 3 days.

Second-hand smoke is a major source of indoor air pollution, and the greatest source of air particle pollution.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the risk of developing cancer from exposure to second-hand smoke is about 57 times greater than the total risk posed by all outdoor air contaminants regulated under U.S. environmental law.

More than three times as many infants die from second-hand smoke-related Sudden Infant Death Syndrome as from child abuse or homicide.

Source: Health Canada ; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

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