Secondhand tobacco smoke
Human Health Risk
H
Ecological Risk
Socioeconomic Risk
M-H
Secondhand tobacco smoke is a complex mix of chemicals generated during the
burning and smoking of tobacco products that can affect those nearby who are not
smoking. It is also known as passive or environmental tobacco smoke. Over 4,000
chemicals, including 40 known or suspected carcinogens, have been identified in
cigarette smoke. Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke can cause or contribute to
middle ear infections, asthma, bronchitis and pneumonia, ischemic heart disease, low
birth weight, lung cancer, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and Acute Lower
Respiratory Tract Illness (LRI) in children up to eighteen months. All of the compounds
found in the smoke inhaled by the active smoker are also found in secondhand smoke.
STRESSOR SUMMARIES
What’s at risk?
Children are more susceptible to the harmful
effects of secondhand tobacco smoke than adults,
although all persons breathing in secondhand
smoke are at risk. In infants and young children up
to three years old, exposure to secondhand tobacco
smoke causes an approximate doubling in the
incidence of pneumonia, bronchitis, and bronchiolitis. There is also strong evidence of increased
middle ear infection, reduced lung function, and
reduced lung growth.
What are the human health impacts in New
Jersey?
There is clear evidence that it can cause cancer in
humans. There is no evidence that any particular
group of individuals will remain unaffected. It is
estimated that the following number of cases/
deaths occur in New Jersey annually:
Middle ear infection, 14,000-32,000 cases
Asthmatic episodes, 8,000-20,000 cases
Bronchitis and pneumonia, 3,000-6,000 cases
New asthma cases, 160-520 cases
Ischemic heart disease, 700-1,240 deaths
Low birth weight, 194-372 cases
tional 33% of all effects from secondhand tobacco
smoke exposure are due to exacerbation of asthma.
Ischemic heart disease, which usually ends in death,
accounts for the majority of deaths associated with
secondhand tobacco smoke exposure, followed by
deaths due to lung cancer.
What are the socioeconomic impacts in New
Jersey?
The health care costs of secondhand tobacco smoke
are of greatest impact. Costs associated with secondhand tobacco smoke-related ailments are estimated at
$186 million to $332 million. These costs do not
include lawsuits, accidental death or property destruction through fires started by cigarettes, or cleaning
cigarette odor out of fabrics.
What’s being done?
Most restrictions on exposure to secondhand tobacco
smoke have occurred at the municipal level, where
restaurants, workplaces, and public places may have
smoking bans. Commercial daycare centers are
required to be smoke-free. State regulations do not
restrict smoking in bars, shopping malls, hotels, or
enclosed arenas.
Lung cancer, 60-80 deaths
Sudden infant death syndrome, 38-54 deaths
Acute lower respiratory tract inf., 2-4 deaths
In New Jersey, 53% of all effects from secondhand
tobacco smoke exposure manifest as middle ear
infections, occurring mostly in children. An addi176
Final Report of the New Jersey State Comparative Risk Project