What You Should Know About Second-Hand Smoke and Your Child
- 50-60% of children under five years of age live in homes with at least one adult smoker
- Environmental tobacco smoke in the U.S. is linked annually with 300,000 cases of infant respiratory illness, and 26,000 new cases and 1 million exacerbated cases of asthma in children
- Second-hand smoke contains more than 4,000 substances, more than 40 of these are known to cause cancer in humans and animals. It has been declared a Class A carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Exposure to second-hand smoke increases both the number of ear infections a child will have and how long they will be ill
- Second-hand smoke exposure can lead to a build-up of fluid in the middle ear, the most common cause of surgery for children
- The EPA states second-hand smoke causes 150,000 to 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections annually in children under 18 months, resulting in as many as 15,000 hospitalizations
- 20% of children's asthma cases are caused by parental smoking
- Children of smokers are more susceptible to colds and other upper respiratory infections
- Second-hand smoke is associated with a small, but significant, reduction in lung function and has been found to cause a slower growth of lung volume and puts an increased rick of a child developing lung cancer later in life
- Infants exposed to second-hand smoke are three times more likely to die of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) as children whose parents don't smoke
- Smoking mothers produce less milk, and their babies have lower birth weight
- Children of mothers who smoked during and after pregnancy are more likely to suffer behavioral problems, such as hyperactivity, than children on non-smoking mothers