Smokefree Living

What are the Health Dangers of Second Hand Smoke?

The smokefree legislation introduced in 2007 has massively reduced people's exposure to secondhand smoke in most enclosed workplaces and public places. The Smoke Free Living initiative looks to further protect the public from the harm of secondhand smoke by working towards reducing smoking in homes and cars.
 

A report in 1998 found that breathing secondhand smoke (passive smoking) increases the risk of the following:

• Babies/Infants: Low birth weight and cot death
• Children: Middle ear infection, asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia
• Adults: Heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, nasal cancer

Even breathing secondhand smoke for short periods affects health; for example, being in a smoky room for 30 minutes reduces the blood flow to your heart muscle.

Everyone who breathes secondhand smoke is affected, and some people are especially vulnerable, including:

• Angina sufferers
• Asthma sufferers (many of whom are children)
• Children
• People who have suffered heart attacks or strokes
• Pregnant women

In the UK about 10,700 non-smoking adults die every year from illnesses caused by breathing in other family members' smoke¹. Illnesses caused in their own homes.

Non-smokers that are exposed to secondhand smoke have at least 24% higher risk of lung cancer and 25% higher risk of heart disease. Secondhand smoke is also a major risk factor for many other conditions, including:

• Asthma: Smoking can trigger asthma, or worsen the symptoms of asthma
• Bronchitis
• Pneumonia
• Stroke
• Cancer: More than 60 of the 4000 chemicals in tobacco smoke are known to be cancer-causing

And smokers, as well as non-smokers, are at an increased risk of these smoking-related illnesses if they are exposed to other people’s smoke in the home.

Having a smokefree home is an easy way to improve your health and the health of those around you. It may even save lives. Stepping outside to smoke solves the problem.

1. Jamrozik, K (2005). Estimate of deaths among adults in the United Kingdom attributable to passive smoking. BMJ. Read abstract.

Children in Smoky Homes: What's the Problem

It is estimated that 37% of households with children in Wales– i.e. around five million children – are exposed to secondhand smoke in the home^{1, 2}.

Children of smokers are much more likely to end up in hospital than youngsters whose parents don’t light up, according to a top Welsh medic.

If either parent smokes, your chances of having a chest problem are 20 per cent greater, and chances of having an ear problem are 60 per cent greater. Sudden infant death syndrome, or cot death, is twice that in mothers who smoke.

Basically, you’re more likely to have coughing and wheezing in the first two years of life. The risks of coming into hospital are 70 per cent greater than if you have got parents who don’t smoke.”

Parents should not smoke in the house. It doesn’t matter if the parents are in the living room and the child is in the kitchen, they should smoke outside.

-- Dr Iolo Doull, consultant respiratory paediatrician at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff

Babies and toddlers are particularly at risk:

• They cannot escape the indoor smoke as they need to stay near their parents.
• They are unable to say that the smoke bothers them.
• They have small, developing, fragile lungs, which are more susceptible to smoke damage (you may notice that they cough and wheeze more).
• They have increased chance of smoking-related 'glue ear' infection.

Children are much more likely to take up smoking if their parents smoke at home.
 

So what's the solution?

Make your home smokefree! Simply ask smokers to pop outside when they want a cigarette.
What will a smokefree home mean to your children?

Children will :

• be less likely to be absent from school with colds and coughs,
• have greater lung capacity,
• no longer smell of tobacco,
• enjoy their home environment much more,
• and be far less likely to start smoking themselves.

Babies will have a reduced risk of cot death.

1. British Medical Association Board of Science (2007). Breaking the cycle of children’s exposure to tobacco smoke. London – BMA.

2. Wales Centre for Health (Nov 2007). Smoking in Wales: current facts.

Pets in Smoky Homes

What’s the problem?

Pets (including cats, dogs and birds) suffer from secondhand smoke too. Tobacco smoke increases pets’ risk of getting cancer, heart disease, respiratory infections such as chronic bronchitis, lung inflammation and asthma, and other illnesses. Pets also absorb dangerous chemicals when they groom themselves because the toxins from the tobacco smoke land on their fur.

How can we protect our pets?

• Make your home smokefree. Simply ask the smokers to go outside the house when they want a cigarette. Opening a window is not enough.
• Make your car smokefree. Let smokers have their cigarette before you set off, and on longer journeys take breaks to stop the temptation of lighting up inside the car.
• Keep ashtrays clean – don’t leave butts in them for pets to find. Keep the ashtrays out of reach of pets and preferably outside.
• Consider quitting smoking - the health effects of your smoking on pets are just one more good reason to quit.

What will a smokefree home mean for my pet?

• Pets may be happier
• Pets will have fewer health problems
• Pets will be less likely to suffer from cancer
• Pets will smell better

Smokefree Cars

There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.

What’s the problem?

Due to the small interior of a car, an increased concentration of smoke is produced quickly. Even with the window down and the cigarette hanging out the window between puffs, the car is still a toxic environment. A recent study by Wellington School of Medicine found that smoking in the car with the window closed is 100 times more polluted than the fumes at a busy traffic intersection. And after the cigarette is finished, the deadly gases in secondhand smoke can linger for hours, even when windows are open.

So what is the solution?

Make your car smokefree! Here are some simple steps:

• Do not smoke in the car and do not allow others to smoke in your car
• Take breaks on long journeys
• Hang a sign from the dashboard or on a window, reminding your passengers not to smoke
• Keep the car ashtray filled with sweets or loose change

What will a smokefree car mean?

• A smokefree car will be cleaner, fresher and more comfortable
• A smokefree car can be easier to sell, with a higher resale value
• Less distraction while driving. The Highway Code considers smoking while driving a distraction.

Resources to Help You Make your Home and Car Smoke Free

Smokefree Living Leaflet - a brief guide to the benefits of making your home smokefree

Second Hand Smoke: What is it and what can you do about it? - a booklet produced by the Welsh Assembly containing information on:

• what secondhand smoke is,
• secondhand smoke and children,
• secondhand smoke in the home and in the car,
• and giving help to give up smoking.

Call now for your free Home Fire Safety Check.

Each year, fire-fighters in Wales attend over 2,000 accidental fires in the home. Smoking related fires cause more fatalities than any other fire type and smokers are less likely than non-smokers to have working smoke detectors fitted.

Most people can change something about their daily routine or simple things around the home to reduce their chances of having an accidental fire.

By calling 0800 169 1234, you can arrange for a representative from your local Fire and Rescue Service to visit your home. During their visit they will be able to provide advice on what you should do in the event of a fire and suggest escape plans suitable for your home. Advice may also be given on issues such as cooking and smoking safely at home if needed. Most importantly, if you do not already have smoke alarms they will be supplied and fitted for you free of charge.

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