Secondhand Smoke Main Page
What is secondhand smoke?
Is secondhand smoke harmful?
Where are people exposed to secondhand smoke?
What can I do to protect myself and those I care about?
Where can I find research on secondhand smoke?
Where can I learn more about secondhand smoke?
Where can I learn more about smoke-free housing?
For more information about secondhand smoke, please contact the Community Secondhand Smoke Specialist at the Jefferson County Public Health at (303) 275-7558.
What is secondhand smoke?
Secondhand Smoke, also called Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS), is a combination of smoke in the air from a burning cigarette and the smoke exhaled by a person smoking. ETS is the number one source of indoor air pollution and poses a threat to the majority of Coloradans.
Secondhand Smoke is a toxic mix of over 4,000 chemicals. Over 60 of those chemicals are known carcinogens. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency classified secondhand smoke as a "Group A" carcinogen in 1992, the same classification as Asbestos.
What chemicals are found in secondhand smoke? Some of the chemicals include:
- Ammonia - cleaning supply
- Carbon Monoxide car exhaust fumes
- Arsenic rat poison
- Acetone nail polish remover
- Formaldehyde body tissue preservation
- Hydrogen Cyanide - genocidal agent during World War II
- Butane cigarette lighter fluid
Secondhand smoke consists of mainstream smoke and sidestream smoke. Mainstream smoke is pulled through a filter by a smoker when s/he inhales. Nonsmokers are exposed to mainstream smoke after the smoker exhales it. Sidestream smoke is the smoke coming from the burning end of the cigarette. Smokers inhale about 15 percent of the smoke from a cigarette. The rest goes into the air. Because the smoke is not filtered through a cigarette or other smoking device and is burned at a slower rate, the sidestream smoke is actually more toxic than mainstream smoke.
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Is secondhand smoke harmful?
It is firmly established by rigorous scientific research that secondhand smoke from cigarettes and other tobacco products creates substantial health risks for exposed nonsmokers, especially children. Secondhand smoke causes an estimated 53,000 deaths annually in the United States alone, including 3,000 lung cancer deaths, more than 2,000 SIDS deaths and more than 35,000 deaths from coronary heart disease.
Secondhand smoke is dangerous for both adults and children and has been linked to: lung cancer, breast cancer, sinus cancer, respiratory disease, bronchitis, middle ear infections, asthma, pneumonia, learning delays in children, SIDS, allergies. Only 13 other substances are considered as dangerous to human health.
Secondhand Smoke Research:
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Where are people exposed to secondhand smoke?
Breathing clean air is something most people take for granted. But in Colorado, clean, smokefree air is not always a given. Even with the passage of the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act, banning smoking in public places, many Coloradoans are exposed to secondhand smoke unwittingly. Many are exposed to secondhand smoke in multi-unit housing complexes and children are exposed to toxic carcinogens from smoke-filled air in the home and in automobiles.
- During an 8-hour shift, workers in a smoke-filled bar or restaurant can inhale up to two packs of cigarettes.
- Smoke-filled rooms may have up to six times the air pollution as a busy highway
- Smoking in a confined space (e.g. car) is 23 times more toxic than smoking in a house
- It takes more than 3 hours to remove 95% of smoke from one cigarette from the room
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What can I do to protect myself and those I care about?
The best thing you can do to protect yourself and those you love is to make your home and auto 100% smoke-free and avoid all public places and businesses where smoking is allowed. For a list of Colorado smoke-free restaurants and taverns, visit www.gaspforair.org. Also, ask others not to smoke around you or your children. Finally, you can work with other community members to make your community smoke-free.
- If you need assistance reducing secondhand smoke in your home or auto, contact (303) 275-7558.
- If you need help quitting smoking, call the Colorado Quitline (1-800-QUIT-NOW) or Donna Viverette, (303) 275-7555 or dviveret@jeffco.us
- For more information about C.A.U.S.E. (Jefferson County Citizens Against Unhealthy Smoke-Filled Environments) contact the coalition chair by calling (303) 275-7558.
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Where Can I Learn More About SHS?
The following is a list of websites which offer more information about secondhand smoke. This list is not all-inclusive of websites and/or local, Denver-Metro area agencies with information about SHS, nor is this list meant to represent an endorsement of the content of these sites or work of these organizations.
1. Jefferson County Public Health Tobacco Prevention Initiative; Contact: Susan Sobkoviak-Gray, Community Secondhand Smoke Specialist phone: (303) 275-7558 Email: sksobkov@jeffco.us; Fax: (303) 275-7506
2. Jefferson County Citizens Against Unhealthy, Smoke-Filled Environments (C.A.U.S.E.). This website addresses the harm of secondhand smoke and efforts to reduce exposure in our communities. C.A.U.S.E. is coalition of citizens works to educate Jefferson County communities about the harm of secondhand smoke and advocates for policies to protect workers and the public from exposure.
3. www.steppcolorado.org
This website is managed by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's State Tobacco Education and Prevention Partnership (STEPP) and is the definitive resource for what's happening in Colorado. The site includes links to all the major state and many national resources for tobacco control, including resources cessation, youth prevention and SHS policy advocacy.
4. www.steppitems.com
This site links you to an array of tobacco prevention and control materials offered free of charge through Prevention Information Center (PIC), a project of STEPP.
5. www.ctepa.org
Colorado Tobacco Education and Prevention Alliance (CTEPA) a statewide coalition of organizations and individuals committed to preventing tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke throughout Colorado. Contact: 1780 South Bellaire Street, Suite 402, Denver, CO 80222; phone: (303) 756-6163;
Fax: (303) 756-6114; email: info@ctepa.org
6. www.smokefreecolorado.org
SmokefreeColorado.org is also a project of STEPP. It provides Colorado residents with information about the dangers of secondhand smoke along with links to the many organizations that are working to address secondhand smoke issues throughout the state.
7. GASP of Colorado - works to eliminate secondhand tobacco smoke through education and by promoting smoke-free policies. Go to: www.gaspforair.org; or phone: (303) 444-9799
8. www.getrealcolorado.org
This site is the web home of Colorado's Youth Movement Against Tobacco Lies, Get R!EAL, an initiative to empower youth ages 12-17 to engage in grassroots activism aimed at challenging and changing social norms that support tobacco use.
9. www.no-smoke.org
Americans for Non-Smokers' Rights sponsors this site, which contains model policies, information on the economic impact of clean indoor air ordinances, tips for working with policymakers, new studies and information on indoor policy.
10. www.cdc.gov/tobacco
This valuable site through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is also known as the Tobacco Information and Prevention Source (TIPS). It includes links to publications, research articles and materials and resources for all your tobacco prevention and control needs.
11. www.tobaccofreekids.org
This is the site for the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and provides tobacco prevention information, advocacy tips, and other resources for tobacco prevention.
12. www.americanlegacy.org
American Legacy Foundation funds several important tobacco control initiatives, including the Truth Campaign. The site provides information and resources for prevention, cessation and policy advocacy.
13. www.tobacco.org
This website is a good source for the latest tobacco news including health and science, advocacy, cessation, settlement, lawsuits, international, business, and much more.
14. www.co.quitnet.com
This website is Colorado's web-based cessation support for people interested in a "self-help" and "self-paced" approach to quitting. The site includes many links for resources and programs.
15. www.cancer.org
This site provides quit tips, information on programs to help smokers quit smoking, and public issues from the American Cancer Society.
16. www.americanheart.org
This site provides health information regarding tobacco use and heart disease along with quit tips and prevention information. Click on state and highlight Colorado, for state-specific information.
17. www.ash.org
Action on Smoking and Health: A National Anti-smoking & Nonsmokers' Rights Organization Entirely Supported by Tax-Deductible Contributions. "Reasons for Banning Smoking in Certain Public Outdoor Areas"
For more information about secondhand smoke, please contact the Community Secondhand Smoke Specialist at the Jefferson County Public Health at (303) 275-7558 or dviveret@jeffco.us
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Last Modified: Jun 10, 2009 02:08 PM
