Second-hand smoke: Should parents of children with asthma be concerned?

Yes, parents of children who have asthma should be very concerned about second-hand smoke.  Every year, between 12,000 and 15,000 children suffer from asthma because of exposure to second-hand smoke in homes, cars, and hotels or motels. (source).  Second-hand smoke is a serious health hazard and there is no safe level of exposure to it.

What is second-hand smoke?

Second-hand smoke, also known as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), is a combination of mainstream smoke (smoke exhaled from a smoker) and sidestream smoke (smoke from the burning end of a cigarette, cigar or pipe). (source).  What is surprising to many people, is that second-hand smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, more than 50 of which cause cancer (source).

How second-hand smoke affects children with asthma

In general, children are more affected by second-hand smoke because their lungs and immune systems are still developing.  When a child lives in a home where even one person is a smoker, he or she has more respiratory problems and infections that often last longer and are more severe.  The more people there are who smoke in a particular home, the more severe are the respiratory problems for the child living there. 

For children with asthma, second-hand smoke is very dangerous.  It affects the muscles around the airways, causing difficulty in breathing. (source).  These children experience:

• more frequent and severe asthma attacks
• asthma that is harder to control
• more emergency room visits and hospital stays more sick days from school.

In fact, any children living in households with smokers are at risk for: 

• lower respiratory track infections (bronchitis), pneumonia, croup, etc.
• upper respiratory track problems
• middle ear infections (otitis media)
• reduction in lung function
• asthma
• nose irritation
• eye irritation
• coughing and wheezing
• sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

So never forget that second-hand smoke is dangerous, especially for children with asthma.  You should be concerned.

Glynis Sheppard for Consumer Health Information Service, Toronto Public Library

Further reading

Toronto Public Library. Consumer Health Information Service. Asthma wiki. 

Ontario Lung Association.

• Asthma action: Second-hand smoke and asthma (November 29, 2006) 
• Smoke-free homes and asthma program. (updated December 16, 2008)  

Canadian Lung Association. Smoking & tobacco.

• Second-hand smoke (Updated January 18, 2009) 
• Second-hand smoke: Children & second-hand smoke (updated January 8, 2009)  

Mayo Clinic. Secondhand smoke: Avoid dangers in the air you breathe. (March 8, 2008)  

British Columbia. BC Health Files: The harmful effects of second-hand smoke (August 2005)  

Canadian Cancer Society.

• Second-hand smoke is dangerous (modified January 12, 2009) 
• Second-hand smoke hurts others (modified January 12, 2009)  

The Hospital for Sick Children. Tobacco smoke and children with asthma. (reviewed June 21, 2004)  

Health Canada.

• Canadian tobacco use monitoring survey (CTUMS) 2008  
• It’s Your health: Second-hand smoke (December 2006) 
• Make your home and car smoke-free: a guide to protecting your family from second-hand smoke (2006)  
• Tobacco: Behind the smoke (animation series, can also be viewed in HTML) (modified January 15, 2009) 
• Backgrounder on constituents and Emissions reported for cigarettes sold in Canada, 2004 (June 2006).  

Peel Public Health. Secondhand smoke… Is it dangerous? (July 2007)  

Toronto Public Health. How does the smoke know where to stop? (undated)  

Physicians for a Smoke-free Canada. Cigarette smoke & kids’ health (revised January 6, 2008)  

Grey Bruce Public Health Unit. Second-hand smoke – It’s a chemical soup (undated)  

Nemours Foundation (U.S.). KidsHealth: Smoking and asthma (reviewed June 2007)  

American Cancer Society. Secondhand smoke (reviewed October 15, 2008)  

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. 

• The health consequences of involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke: A report of the Surgeon General – Executive summary (2006)  
• The health consequences of involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke: A report of the Surgeon General. Secondhand Smoke: What it means to you (2006)  

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Asthma: Secondhand smoke (updated February 19, 2008)