Secondhand Smoke and Smoke-free Homes | US EPA

Secondhand smoke is a mixture of the smoke given off by the burning of tobacco products, such as cigarettes, cigars or pipes and the smoke ... Skiptomaincontent Officialwebsitesuse.gov A.govwebsitebelongstoanofficialgovernmentorganizationintheUnitedStates. Secure.govwebsitesuseHTTPS Alock(LockAlockedpadlock)orhttps://meansyou’vesafelyconnectedtothe.govwebsite.Sharesensitiveinformationonlyonofficial,securewebsites. IndoorAirQuality(IAQ) ContactUs SecondhandSmokeandSmoke-freeHomes RelatedInformation Factsheet:ReducingExposuretoSecondhandSmoke-U.S.ProgressSinceEPA's1993Report  SecondhandTobaccoSmokeandtheHealthofYourFamilyBrochure(Bilingual(PDF) 1993EPAReport: RespiratoryHealthEffectsofPassiveSmoking:LungCancerandOtherDisorders Onthispage: WhatisSecondhandSmoke? WhataretheHealthEffects ofSecondhandSmoke? WhatCanYouDotoReduceExposuretoSecondhandSmoke? HowMuch ProgressHasBeenMadeNationallyinReducingExposuretoSecondhandSmoke? Resources WhatisSecondhandSmoke? Secondhandsmokeisamixtureofthesmokegivenoffbytheburningoftobaccoproducts,suchascigarettes,cigarsorpipesandthesmokeexhaledbysmokers.Secondhandsmokeisalsocalledenvironmentaltobaccosmoke(ETS).Exposuretosecondhandsmokeissometimescalledinvoluntaryorpassivesmoking.Secondhandsmoke,classifiedbyEPAasaGroupAcarcinogen,containsmorethan7,000substances.Secondhandsmokeexposurecommonlyoccursindoors,particularlyinhomesandcars.Secondhandsmokecanmovebetweenroomsofahomeandbetweenapartmentunits. Openingawindoworincreasingventilationinahomeorcarisnotprotectivefromsecondhandsmoke. WhataretheHealthEffectsofSecondhandSmoke? Thehealtheffectsofsecondhandsmokeonnonsmokingadultsandchildrenareharmfulandnumerous.Secondhandsmokecausescardiovasculardisease(heartdiseaseandstroke),lungcancer,suddeninfantdeathsyndrome,morefrequentandsevereasthmaattacks,andotherserioushealthproblems.Severallandmarkhealthassessmentsregardingsecondhandsmokehavebeenconducted. Keyfindings: Thereisnorisk-freelevelofexposuretosecondhandsmoke. Sincethe1964SurgeonGeneral’sReport,2.5millionadultswhowerenonsmokersdiedbecausetheybreathedsecondhandsmoke. Secondhandsmokecausesnearly34,000prematuredeathsfromheartdiseaseeachyearintheUnitedStatesamongnonsmokers. Nonsmokerswhoareexposedtosecondhandsmokeathomeorworkincreasetheirriskofdevelopingheartdiseaseby25-30%. SecondhandsmokecausesmanylungcancerdeathsamongU.S.nonsmokerseachyear. Nonsmokerswhoareexposedtosecondhandsmokeathomeoratworkincreasestheirriskofdevelopinglungcancerby20-30%. Secondhandsmokecausesnumeroushealthproblemsininfantsandchildren,includingmorefrequentandsevereasthmaattacks,respiratoryinfections,earinfections,andsuddeninfantdeathsyndrome.  LearnmoreaboutthehealtheffectsofsecondhandsmokefromtheCentersforDiseaseControlandPrevention(CDC).  Secondhandsmokeposesparticularhealthriskstochildrenwithasthma.  Secondhandsmokeisauniversalasthmatriggerandcanelicitanasthmaattackormakeasthmasymptomsmoresevere. Learnmoreaboutindoorasthmatriggers. Learnmoreaboutasthmafrom theCDC. Asthmaisachronicdiseasethataffectstheairwaysofthelungsandcanleadtocoughing,troublebreathing,wheezingandtightnessinthechest. Asthmaisthemostcommonchronicchildhooddiseaseaffecting,onaverage,1in13schoolagedchildren. Exposuretosecondhandsmokemaycausenewcasesofasthmainchildrenwhohavenotpreviouslyshownsymptoms. MorethanhalfofUSchildrenwithasthmaareexposedtosecondhandsmoke(quinto,2013). ReadEPA’s1999healthassessment,RespiratoryHealthEffectsofPassiveSmoking: LungCancerandOtherDisorders. WhatCanYouDotoReduceExposuretoSecondhandSmoke? Eliminatingsecondhandsmokeintheindoorenvironmentwillreduceitsharmfulhealtheffects,improvetheindoorairqualityandthecomfortorhealthofoccupants. Secondhandsmokeexposurecanbereducedthroughmandatedorvoluntarysmoke-freepolicyimplementation. Someworkplacesandenclosedpublicspacessuchasbarsandrestaurantsaresmoke-freebylaw. Peoplecanestablishandenforcesmoke-freerulesintheirownhomesandcars. Formultifamilyhousing,smoke-freepolicyimplementationcouldbemandatoryorvoluntary,dependingonthetypeofpropertyandlocation(e.g.,ownershipandjurisdiction).   Thehomeisbecomingthepredominantlocationfortheexposureofchildrenandadultstosecondhandsmoke. (SurgeonGeneral’sReport,2006) Householdswithinbuildingswithsmoke-freepolicieshavelowerPM2.5comparedtobuildingswithoutthesepolicies.PM2.5isaunitofmeasureforsmallparticlesintheairandisusedasoneindicationofairquality.Highlevelsoffineparticlesintheaircanleadtonegativehealthimpacts.(Russo,2014) Prohibitingsmokingindoorsistheonlywaytoeliminatesecondhandsmokefromtheindoorenvironment.Ventilationandfiltrationtechniquescanreduce,butnoteliminate,secondhandsmoke.(Bohoc,2010) Manyresourcesareavailabletoassistyouinimplementingsmoke-freepoliciesandtoquitsmoking: ImplementingHUD’sSmoke-freePolicyinPublicHousing AmericanNonsmokers’RightsFoundation–ResourcesandToolsforSmoke-freeMulti-UnitHousing AmericanLungAssociationSmoke-freeHousingInitiative CDC’sQuitSmokingResources HowMuchProgressHasBeenMade Nationally inReducingExposuretoSecondhandSmoke? January2018marked the25thanniversaryofthelandmarkEPAhealthassessment,“RespiratoryHealthEffectsofPassiveSmoking: LungCancerandOtherDisorders.” Tolearnaboutprogressovertheyears,read:  ReducingExposuretoSecondhandSmoke–U.S.ProgressSinceEPA’s1993 LandmarkReport. Resources Thefollowinglinksexitthesite Multi-media AdCouncil:TheBreatheEasies,Don’tSmokeintheHouse MakingtheBusinessCaseforPrevention:Smoke-freeMultiunitHousing Podcasts HowMaine’sPublicHousingAuthoritiesBecame100%Smoke-free SecondhandSmokeandMulti-unithousing*Comingsoon ResourcesfromourFederalPartners HUDSmoke-freeMultifamilyHousing CDCOfficeofSmokingandHealth NationalCancerInstitute ReportsfromtheSurgeonGeneral ScientificResources TheHealthConsequencesofSmoking–50YearofProgress:AReportoftheSurgeonGeneral,2014 TheHealthConsequencesofInvoluntaryExposuretoTobaccoSmoke:AReportoftheSurgeonGeneral,2006(PDF)(727pp,20MB,AboutPDF) HealthEffectsofExposuretoEnvironmentalTobaccoSmoke(CaliforniaEnvironmentalProtectionAgency,1997) SummaryofTheNationalToxicologyProgram’s9thReportonCarcinogens(NationalInstitutesofHealth,2001) SmokingandTobaccoControlMonographs:HealthEffectsofExposuretoEnvironmentalTobaccoSmoke(NationalCancerInstitute) ContactUstoaskaquestion,providefeedback,orreportaproblem.