Secondhand Smoke

1
Secondhand Smoke

• The Effects on Children
• By Casey Dexter

2
Secondhand Smoke in General

• Secondhand smoke, also known as environmental
  tobacco smoke, is a mixture of the smoke given
  off by the burning end of a cigarette, pipe or
  cigar and the smoke exhaled from the lungs of
  smokers.
• It contains hundreds of chemicals known to be
  toxic and can cause many health issues.

3
Health Issues

• Cancer
• Respiratory infections
• Asthma
• Children can develop ADHD
• And plenty more.

4
Children at Risk the Most

• Secondhand smoke effects children in more ways
  then people think.
• Children are at risk with secondhand smoke even
  when they are not born yet.
• It is very important that pregnant women stay
  away from smoke because if they receive
  secondhand smoke or smoke themselves then it
  could result in psychological problems or even
  death.

5
Infants have No Choice

• Secondhand smoke is a risk factor contributing to
  Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
• Infants who die from SIDS tend to have higher
  concentrations of nicotine in their lungs.

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Nicotine

• Nicotine is an alkaloid compound in tobacco and
  is believed to be the chemical that causes these
  behavior problems in children.
• Secondhand smoke can impair their ability to
  learn and it does not take much for secondhand
  smoke to effect a child.
• For children that already have problems with
  their lungs such as, asthma can create an even
  worse cause of asthma if they are around smoke.

7
Facts

• Approximately 50-75 percent of children in the
  United States have detectable levels of cotinine
  which is the breakdown of nicotine in the blood.
• Secondhand smoke is responsible for between
  150,000 and 300,000 lower respiratory tract
  infections I infants and children under 18 months
  of age.
• Resulting in between 7,500 and 15,000
  hospitalizations each year, and causes 430 Sudden
  Infant Death Syndrome deaths in the US annually.

8
Places Children are Exposed

• Restaurants
• Houses
• Parks
• Amusement Parks
• Sporting Events
• Beach
• Etc.

9
Ways of Prevention

• Throughout the years, the science of secondhand
  smoke has driven the secondhand smoke policy
  engine from separate smoking and nonsmoking
  sections to separately ventilated smoking rooms
  to 100 smoke free environments.
• There are fifteen states altogether that have
  made all public places smoke free.
• Parents should smoke outside their houses away
  from people at all time or stop smoking
  altogether.

10
No Risk-Free Level of Exposure

• Short exposures to secondhand smoke can cause
  blood platelets to become stickier, damage the
  lining of blood vessels, decrease coronary flow
  velocity reserves, and reduce heart rate
  variability, potentially increasing the risk of
  heart attack.
• Secondhand smoke will always be around no matter
  how many restrictions there are unless everyone
  stops smoking.