Second-hand smoke has been an issue that raises many concerns among many people. The smoke consists of more than 4000 chemicals, which are harmful to the body. They include carbon monoxide, ammonia cadmium, and arsenic. Second-hand smoke can therefore cause detrimental effects on one’s health especially because the said chemicals are poisonous and can cause cancer. Infants tend to be adversely affected by secondhand smoke because their lungs are still not completely developed and also due to the fact that they breathe faster than adults. It can result in increased premature deaths among the old and young with the same intensity. It can also cause respiratory diseases as well as asthma. Other toxic compounds include hydrogen cyanide, formaldehyde, benzene, and vinyl chloride. Second-hand smoke can be said to be a cause of many deaths to mankind.. In the general second hand, smoke causes many negative effects to infants and young children.
Second-hand smoke can be defined as the inhaling of smoke in the form of burning cigarettes or cigars when smokers have exhaled the smoke. This process is involuntary as one inhales such smoke unwillingly. Another name for secondhand smoke is environmental tobacco smoke or passive smoke. People inhale secondhand smoke either knowingly or unknowingly in public places, buildings, at work, and also in their family homes if a member is a smoker. More smoke is left in the open to harm people as smokers only inhale a smaller amount of the smoke they eject leaving a high level of smoke left into the atmosphere to be inhaled by other people. Homes and vehicles are primary sources for children’s secondhand smoke, which leads to increased harmful health conditions. The second-hand smoke is retained and breathed in by children way after the cigarettes have been extinguished. It is therefore not safe to open windows or use a fan with the thought that the adverse effects will not be felt. If parents smoke away from their infants they are not 100% guaranteed that their children would not be affected. This is because the tobacco smoke remains in their clothing as well as in their breath and harmful effects could be felt.
Second-hand smoke is more dangerous as it involves breathing in smoke that contains nicotine and far. The smoke inhaled has 5 times more carbon monoxide content, which is a deadly disease that could see suffocate for lack of oxygen needed in the body. Carbon monoxide inhibits the effective carrying of oxygen to body tissues especially to the vital organs like the heart and the brain and it can contribute to heart illnesses and stroke.
According to California Environmental Agency and International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2005 and 2002, passive smokers are exposed to over 100 toxic substances out of which approximately 70 can cause cancer to human beings. They argue further that more harm is felt in cases of passive smoking because then the carcinogens that are produced by passive smoking and are highly concentrated since they are produced at lower temperatures and hence incomplete combustion of tobacco takes place. Second-hand smoke combines the smoke exhaled by smokers as well as smoke from burning cigars or cigarettes. Such smoke stays in the environment for a long and can cause adverse health effects like cancer and asthma. It causes over 3400 lung cancer deaths as well as heart diseases in non-smokers. Exposure to secondhand smoke is more prevalent in workplaces, restaurants, and bars compared to residents of smokers.
Smoking tends to be a cause of increased absenteeism and consequently reduced productivity levels in the workplace. Laws against smoking in public have not been effectively implemented even though most states agree that such is harmful. Passive smoking has extremely adverse effects on infants as well as young children. It is responsible for over 100,000 to 300,000 cases of lower respiratory tract infections in infants and children under 1½ years old. This precipitates their hospitalization and could lead to sudden infant death syndrome (SID) per year. Exposure to secondhand smoke causes a buildup of fluid in the middle ear precipitating aggravated visits to the physician or doctors. It is also a cause of asthma in many children.
Children in the US are at a higher risk of the adverse effects of secondhand smoke because over 21 million live in homes where residents or visitors smoke on regular basis and up to 75% of children in the US have detectable levels of cotinine which is a breakdown product of nicotine in the blood. (McMartin I et al, 206). This therefore should be a wake-up call for quick action by the relevant authorities so as to protect the young.
Although research in the 1980s by a private company, Philip Morris revealed that second smoke had adverse effects on health as it was highly toxic, very little was done to this effect. In fact, the findings were suppressed and the company created the feeling that nothing of the sought had ever happened. Recent surgeons’ reports emerged with the conclusion that there was no level of secondhand smoke that does not have negative effects on one’s health.
Generally, children are more exposed to secondhand smoke than adults. Their tender bodies are still in the developmental stages and exposure to environmental smoke puts them at risk of severe respiratory diseases, which can hinder the effective growth of their lungs. (Blizzard L et al, 482-488). Children’s lungs are small in size and this affects the way the impact of second-hand smoke will be, their immune systems are also not well developed and this makes them more likely to suffer from respiratory and ear infections that have been triggered by secondhand smoke. Since they are smaller they breathe faster than adults do and this means that they take in more of the harmful chemicals per unit of their weight compared to adults. Again, they have limited choice than adults do in terms of evading or avoiding areas that are smoke-filled. They cannot ask or leave such areas and they have no choice or say regarding their predicament.
Second-hand smoke is responsible for low birth weight if pregnant mothers smoke. The health effects of secondhand smoke can last for a lifetime. Second-hand smoke is a known preventable cause of low birth weight, which is correlated to infant mortality as well as other complications into adulthood. It reduces the birth weight of infants of non-smoking mothers and it has additional effects of reducing the birth weight among babies of mothers who smoke tobacco or cigarettes. According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, smoking has adverse effects on unborn children. Active smoking affects the child’s health because of the transplacental exposure of the fetus to tobacco smoke components as well as the reduced oxygen delivery when smoking is taking place. The impact on the reduced weight is however more intense on mothers who smoke than in cases of secondhand smoke. (Yu-Chen Li. et al, 1232). In cases where there is paternal smoking, a meta-analysis estimated that a reduction of birth rate was only 28 g compared to 200g where there was maternal smoking. When secondhand smoke leads to reduced birth weights for babies this could result in harmful effects on the children at a later age. Babies with low birth rates risk having their cognitive development negatively affected.
Health effects on children after postnatal or to newly born infants include SID as well as adverse effects on neuropsychological development and physical growth. These effects are caused by toxic components like nicotine and carbon monoxide. Long-term second-hand effects include cancers of the brain, leukemia, and lymphomas. The risk of sudden infant death (SID) is twice in infants of mothers who smoke than of those who do not. (Yu-When Li et al, 1232). World Health Organization WHO in 1999 was consulted in establishing the link between SID and secondhand smoke. However, it was found out that the evidence available did not support a sufficient causal conclusion.
SID has also known as a crib death and it is three times more a cause of infant death than child abuse or homicide. Studies have shown clearly that regular exposure to secondhand smoke contributes or rather is correlated with poor performance or lower scores in logic reading mathematics and also reasoning skills. Children who die from SID tend to have a higher concentration of nicotine in their lungs, an indication that smoke from tobacco or cigarettes had been involved. Children whose parents do not smoke report minimal cases of such incidences. Second-hand smoke has increased levels of impeding. It consists of very high amounts of carcinogens, which can cause cancers especially as the smoke is unfiltered.
SID causes are unexplainable after a complete autopsy. It occurs quite often in babies who are between 2 and 4 months. SID cases reduce as children grow from one level to the next the real causes for SID remain unknown and the explanation of why it’s more prevalent to some and not others is also unknown. Baby boys have higher risks than baby girls and aboriginal or people of color also record higher risks than whites and non-aboriginal children. Cigarette smoking puts the child at a higher risk for SID as it increases the risk for respiratory infections. Children whose family members, mothers, fathers, friends, and babysitters smoke affect the rate at which they risk dying out of SID.
SID refers to the unexpected death of infants while asleep when those infants seem very healthy. Maternal smoking during pregnancy is a major cause of SID but paternal and secondhand smoke are factors that could trigger it too. Although WHO considers this inconclusive, it agrees there is some correlation in families where both parents smoke. It can be difficult to determine who the causes for the harmful health effects were. Women who used to smoke when pregnant are more likely to smoke after delivery creating a dilemma as to whether the damage was done at a fetus level or after the child was born. It is therefore inconclusive to state that maternal smoking or secondhand smoking is responsible.
Studies have shown that there is a very high correlation between secondhand smoke and lower respiratory tract illnesses in childhood. The assumption made here is that there is an increased frequency in the severity of illnesses that are infectious in etiology and hence not a direct response of the lungs to the toxic compounds in second-hand smoke. It was also established that the effects of exposure to tobacco smoke in the utero on the airways play a role in the effect of postnatal exposure to the risks for lower respiratory diseases. Mothers who smoke affect their infants by damaging their airways during gestation on lungs shortly after they are born. These damages increase their chances or likelihood of acquiring more severe infections. The airways exposed in infants are functionally narrowed and they have a higher degree of non-specific responsiveness. Thorough investigations conducted throughout the world show that second-hand smoke especially to an infant whose parents smoked showed an increased risk of respiratory tract illnesses.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports how secondhand smoke exposure increases the risk of lower respiratory tract infections like pneumonia and bronchitis in the first year of life to children whose parents smoked. It estimates that between 150,000 and 300,000 cases per year of the recorded respiratory tract infections in infants and young children are due to secondhand smoke exposure. A proportion of these is hospitalized as their condition worsens infants of smoking mothers have a higher probability of being hospitalized compared to those of non-smoking mothers. Mothers who smoke in the same room with their infants register a higher frequency of visits to the hospitals than those who smoke in separate rooms from their infants. The risk increases to 73% higher if mothers smoke while feeding their infant.
Second-hand smoke especially from parents who smoke to their children causes asthma and wheezing illnesses in infants and children. Asthma refers to a chronic lung condition where those affected have problems when breathing. Asthma attacks entail wheezing, coughing tightness, pressure, or pain in the chest as well as coughing tightness pressure or pain in the chest as well as shortness in breathing. In very few instances does or has asthma turned out to be very fatal. Utero exposure is associated with impaired lung growth as well as wheezing more so in preschool children. Second-hand smoke increases the chances and severeness of wheezing illnesses as well as symptoms in asthmatic. Second-hand smoke increases the frequency of episodes as well as the severity of symptoms to children who are already asthmatic.
EPA estimates that approximately 200,000 to 1 million children with asthma have their condition worsened when they are exposed to secondhand smoke. Exposure to secondhand smoke is therefore not only a factor that increases asthma but also worsens the lung functioning of children who already have asthma. The effects of secondhand smoke on such children will be felt deeply as they grow up to school age and they will have their education affected by increased levels of attacks that would mean absenteeism. (Gilliland D et al, 861-869). In cases where mothers and their grandmothers are smokers, the risks of childhood asthma would be higher compared to parents who have never smoked while children whose mothers smoked throughout their pregnancy period register increased risks of acquiring asthma. Those mothers who quit smoking prior to pregnancy register minimal increased risks for the same.
Although there is a deficiency in conclusive prove that secondhand smoke causes asthma there is evidence that secondhand smoke aggravates the severity of symptoms. It has been established that parental smoking has detrimental effects on lung growth and the effect is long-term in the sense that it has an impact on respiratory health throughout life. All in all, there is some consensus that maternal smoking has more health hazards impact than secondhand smoke from fathers. However, places like China record significant effects of paternal smoking on infants and children. Numerous surveys indicate that there is a higher frequency of respiratory problems like coughing and phlegm in children whose parents smoke than for those who do not smoke.
Exposure to secondhand smoke can cause asthma in the long run due to the increased occurrences of lower respiratory infection in earlier years of life. It could also be precipitated by other factors like pathophysiologic mechanisms like the inflammation of the respiratory epithelium. The effects of secondhand smoke can reflect the consequences of in utero exposure. (Skorge D et al, 61-66). On assessing the responsiveness of the airways after birth it was clear that infants whose mothers smoked during pregnancy had increased airways responsiveness to infants whose parents did not smoke.
A study by professor Pinkerlon on smoke exposure and damage caused established that it was very important to avoid smoking when one is pregnant or in postnatal procedures. Over 126 m residents in the US of between 3 and above years risk the harmful effects of secondhand smoke. They found out that secondhand smoke has dangerous effects on babies at a very crucial amount of time in the development of lungs. At that point, millions of alveoli are being formed. (www.sciencedaily.com). Alveoli are places where oxygen passes from the lungs into the bloodstream. Human beings are born with only a fifth of the required alveoli. From when one is born to when one is eight years the remaining or the deficit is developed. Second-hand smoke also causes negative effects on fetal airways and this could lead to asthma. Cigarette smoke affects the normal process or functioning of the alveoli.
Second-hand smoke affects a child’s cognitive impairment and thus impairs their ability to learn. (Yolton, K. et al 98-103). Even at minimal levels, secondhand smoke is still dangerous. It is estimated that over 21.9 million children have reading deficits due to secondhand smoke. another effect of maternal prenatal smoking is that it contributes to the development of anti-social behavior as well as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms in the mothers’ offspring. (Button M et al, 155-160).
Second-hand smoke could also cause metabolic syndrome, which is a disorder that is associated with excessive fat in the belly. (Weitzman M et al 73). This is linked with other harmful effects like chances of heart diseases, stroke, and diabetes II. High levels of secondhand smoke exposure increase the chances of one smoking, as they grow older into adolescents and adults.
Second-hand smoke is also responsible for nausea, eye irritation, sore throats as well as dizziness. Lung cancer can occur as a result of secondhand smoke. Hospitality workers are at a higher risk of being exposed to the adverse effects of secondhand smoke. It can also cause cardiovascular problems especially because some chemicals block arteries that can lead to hypertension or heart attack.. Secondhand smoke is also linked to breast cancer.
Maternal smoking can result in children who are addicted to tobacco and secondhand smoke can be a reason behind the small lung sizes of babies born out of smoking parents. Such babies may have weak lungs, which are susceptible to other health complications. Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke have a higher or an increased risk for ear infections and may need to have a medical operation to insert ear tubes for drainage children between 3-11 years have registered high cotinine levels. Doctors suspect that the major reason behind tobacco use and ear infection is the reduced immune response that causes upper respiratory tract infections. The smoke could irritate the tissues surrounding the respiratory system causing harm. Again, inflammations could occur due to other reasons like air pollution and tobacco smoke that can contribute to an inflammation of the middle ear. Researchers concluded that secondhand smoke was a risk factor for middle ear diseases even in the affluent population. (Becklake R et al, 377-379). Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke in the first 3 years of their lives risk suffering from frequent and persistent ear infections compared to those not exposed to secondhand smoke. This was proved through a study at the University of Calgary in Canada.
Smoking in public places ought to be prohibited as without doing so, innocent people are involuntarily affected by the harmful effects of such smoke. Second-hand smoke is responsible for many childhood cancers although maternal smoking is a major cause of cancer especially leukemia and lung cancer. It is also a cause of other health risks for instance of lower respiratory tract infections, asthma, SID, lower birth weight, ear infections, irritation, sore throats as well as dizziness. To save the young from short and long-term side effects serious control measures or policies must be put in place. Enlightening the masses on the dangers caused by secondhand smoke would be one way of reducing the adverse effects of secondhand smoke especially in infants and young children
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