Secondhand Smoke

What will smoking one cigarette do?

After smoking just one cigarette, the heart beats faster, blood vessels constrict, and blood pressure goes up.  Smoking one cigarette can cause fingers and toes to feel cooler, and the lining of the nose, throat, & lungs to be irritated. Smoking one cigarette increases hand tremors and can also make you feel dizzy.

 How does secondhand smoke affect my baby?

When cigarette smoke is in the air, babies breathe it too. If your baby is exposed to secondhand smoke, he or she will have a higher risk of:

  • Colds
  • Ear Infections
  • Asthma
  • Bronchitis
  • Pneumonia
  • SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)
  • Cancer

 

What are the dangers of secondhand smoke?

Secondhand smoke is what is inhaled from other people's tobacco products. It includes:

Sidestream Smoke - smoke that comes directly from a burning cigarette, pipe, or cigar.   

Mainstream Smoke - smoke that is exhaled by the smoker.

When a cigarette is smoked, about half of the smoke is sidestream smoke. Sidestream smoke contains most of the same chemicals found in the mainstream smoke, and some, like tobacco-specific nitrosamines, are much more concentrated. People who don't smoke, but are exposed to secondhand smoke, absorb nicotine and other chemicals just as someone who smokes does. Studies have shown that secondhand smoke can cause lung cancer in healthy adults who do not smoke. Children of parents who smoke are more likely to suffer from pneumonia, bronchitis, ear infections, asthma, and SIDS (the sudden death of a baby under age one which cannot be explained). Mothers who smoke and breastfeed may pass harmful chemicals from nicotine to their baby through breast milk.