Yes, the topic that smokers never want to hear, and nonsmokers rail at. Secondhand smoke, passive smoking, involuntary smoking, or environmental tobacco smoke, it’s all the same thing – chemicals released in the air from cigarettes and e-cigs that affect those that are not actually smoking. And there’s even thirdhand smoke, which is the smoke released from things such as walls, couches, hair even when there is no one actively smoking. This thirdhand smoke has been shown to last on surfaces for months. The chemicals in thirdhand smoke also mix with the dust in the house, hiding in corners until it gets stirred up and breathed in.

Why is it bad, anyway?
There are about 7000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, and appx 70 of them can cause cancer. Secondhand smoke has been classified as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization, which means it has been proven to cause cancer. There is no minimum level of smoke that is needed to harm, any amount can hurt you.

I’ve heard of smoking causing lung cancer, that’s all.
True, in one study secondhand smoke was shown to cause 7,300 deaths a year of adults who weren’t smokers. It’s also possibly linked in adults to cancers of the larynx, pharynx, nasal sinuses, brain, bladder, rectum, stomach, and breast. In children it may be linked to lymphoma, leukemia, liver cancer, and brain tumors. Now, these are possible links, but do you want to take that risk?

Yeah, but cancer’s not going to happen to me or my family.
Okay, how about heart disease? For nonsmokers, tobacco smoke immediately starts causing effects on the heart and blood vessels. It’s thought that around 20,000 nonsmokers die each year of heart disease caused by secondhand smoke.

Also, due to the effect on the blood vessels, it can also cause stroke.

Even though these are adult figures, it does affect children, not least because when they start smoking because they saw their parents do it, they will have high risk of heart disease and cancer also.

Smoking moms have a bigger risk of ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage.

And finally, there are the little things, eye irritation, cough, headaches, sore throat, that non smokers can experience when around smoke.

But since this is a pediatric blog, let’s go to effects on children.
Let’s start with in utero exposure. We already discussed that the chemicals in tobacco smoke cause issues with blood vessels. With the fetus, that means that they may not get the necessary blood flow from the placenta that gives them the nutrients they need to grow properly. Also, they can receive less oxygen through the umbilical cord than they need. These things cause general stress on the fetus, which can cause prematurity, low birth weight, and learning problems and ADHD.  Prematurity is a leading cause of death in babies.

Exposure as a fetus and as a young infant has been shown to increase GER, or reflux, in infants.

As you may know from how helpless they are, humans aren’t quite done developing when they’re born. What you may not know is that lungs don’t really stop maturing until a person is 20-25 years old! While a significant portion of lung development and growth occur in the first few years of life, we still add on a little each year until our 20’s. So logically, anything that interferes with that is a problem.

Children who are exposed to smoke are more likely to have ear infections, get coughs and colds, develop lung infections like bronchitis or pneumonia, and even cause cataracts and tooth decay. The colds they do get can be worse, and last longer than in children not exposed to smoke.

Children with asthma are more likely to have asthma attacks, and they can be much worse. Also, there is a small amount of data that shows it may be a risk factor for asthma developing in children exposed to a large amount of smoke.

And lastly, but definitely not least, secondhand smoke exposure increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

So, I’ll just smoke somewhere else.
Actually, that’s not a great idea. First, there is smoke that lingers on you, your clothes, and anything you’ve smoked near – remember the thirdhand smoke definition above? Second, smoke mixes with the air, and can get anywhere the air can. You can smoke outside, but all it needs is a window, air intake, draft, and the right wind direction, and it’s in your house. Also, this is bad news for people living in apartments that aren’t completely non smoking, as smoke can move through the windows, air ducts, hallways and stairwells from a smoker’s apartment to yours. And do I need to talk about how small a car is when your child is stuck in there breathing your fumes?

Fine, I’ll use an air purifier, or one of those smokeless ashtrays.
Nope. Neither of those things are good enough to keep smoke from affecting other people.

There’s also some practical concerns.
Things that you may have around as a smoker can be dangerous to children. Matches, lighters, and lit cigarettes can be used by children as young as five to start fires. Eating more that ten matches requires a call to the poison control center. Eating even one or two cigarette butts can cause nicotine poisoning.  The liquid from e-cigs is quite poisonous, even to adults, if ingested. Make sure your items are well stored, and remember that nothing is truly child proof.

Not only that, but…
Smoking is expensive. A pack of cigarettes costs from $6 to $13 depending on the state. That’s more than a cup of Starbucks. If you smoke a pack a day you’re burning up $285.00 a month. That could have been a utility bill, part of a private school payment, or 105 diapers. That’s a lot of diapers.

Bottom line.
Smoking is bad. For you and your child. A lot of smokers ignore the realities of the harmful effects probably because they are addicted to it. And while it’s your own choice to cause yourself harm, what about the harm to your child?