Q: My grandkids, ages 10 and 7 are around cigarette smoke at their mom’s house and at their dad’s house, also. There are four smokers in the two houses and the kids always have a cough, ear infection and colds. It seems like they are always sick. Could it be the cigarette smoke? I think it should be unlawful to smoke around kids.
A: It’s a known fact that parents who smoke cause health problems for their children that includes ear infections, chronic coughs, colds, bronchitis, pneumonia, and worsening asthma. In fact, five states have bans on driving and smoking if there children in the car. Second-hand smoke is just that – an adult or child breathing in smoke that comes from someone in the household puffing on a cigarette, cigar, or pipe. Cigarettes contain more than 4,000 chemicals and more than 50 of those chemicals are known to cause cancer. It’s simply not healthy to inhale benzene, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide or carbon monoxide, yet that is what every individual does when he is subjected to someone smoking nearby. Thirty-five percent of children in our country live in homes where parents, visitors or other residents smoke in the home on a regular basis. Up to 75% of those children have detectable levels of cotinine (a breakdown product of nicotine) in their blood. The smoke that is exhaled from a smoker’s lungs is inhaled into the lungs of everyone around. Smoke gets into the air we breathe. It clings to draperies and curtains, couch and chairs. It collects on walls. Then there is third-hand smoke – the residue that permeates the clothes a smoker wears and the upholstery in an automobile the smoker leans against. A 2006 surgeon general’s report confirmed that second hand smoking is harmful, can kill, and there is no amount of exposure that is safe. The more smoke that is inhaled, the greater the health risk.
Children are more vulnerable to second-hand smoke than are adults, because their bodies are still growing and they breathe at a faster rate than do adults. Your grandchildren aren’t alone in this dilemma. It is estimated that 126 million people in this country who are non-smokers are exposed to second hand smoke at home and in the workplace. And, that smoke dramatically increases a person’s risk of developing lung cancer and heart disease. We may find fault with the seemingly uncaring smoker but it’s likely we don’t begin to realize the full impact of the act because each year it is estimated that almost 60,000 deaths occur in non-smokers who live with or work with smokers.
In this, as well as many more instances, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Smoking should not be allowed in the home or around others. Many states have passed laws that prohibit smoking in public places. Restaurants, offices, bars and other facilities are banning smoking. Sound mean? Not at all. Sounds safe to me. Thank heavens towns, cities, and governments have stepped up to the plate and prohibit smoking in many public places.
There are ways individuals can continue the smoking habit if they so desire. They can step out of doors, onto a porch, or take a walk around the block while puffing away. This keeps the family or household members healthy, and the smoker happy. We need to protect our children in every possible way. We help them across the street, attempt to feed them well-balanced meals, and dress them warmly in cold weather, so I recommend we all step up to the plate and make our homes smoke-free facilities. We’ll all be better off for it.
Smoking is an addiction and it isn’t an easy one to give up but there is help available. Additional information and methods of kicking the habit can be found through the American Lung Association’s website www.lung.org.
