Children are Hurt by Secondhand Smoke
Secondhand smoke contains more than 250 chemicals known to be toxic or carcinogenic (cancer-causing), including formaldehyde, benzene, vinyl chloride, arsenic, ammonia, and hydrogen cyanide. The Environmental Protection Agency classifies secondhand smoke, as a class A carcinogen; a substance known to cause cancer in humans and many serious illnesses in children including asthma, respiratory infections and cardiovascular disease.
Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke are inhaling many of the same cancer-causing substances as smokers. There is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke exposure. Even brief exposures can be harmful. The only way to fully protect yourself and your loved ones from the dangers of secondhand smoke is through 100% smoke-free environments. (The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General June 27, 2006)
¹ National Cancer Institute. Health Effects of Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke: The Report of the California Environmental Protection Agency. Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph no. 10. Bethesda, MD. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, NIH Pub. No. 99-4645, 1999, http://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/tcrb/nci_monographs/MONO10/MONO10.HTM.
