ASK THE OCC DOC - By Dr. Jennifer Tinch

“Is it really true that secondhand smoke causes lung cancer?

Yes, secondhand smoke or ETS (environmental tobacco smoke) can cause cancer and a number of other health conditions. Several states, including Tennessee, have enacted laws protecting workers from the harmful effects of ETS. These include regulations which prohibit smoking inside restaurants, bars and other public spaces including many workplaces. However, there is one place where smoking still affects the most sensitive people and poses the most risk: at home.

The lungs of children are still developing, and as such, they are at greater risk of developing respiratory diseases or worsening those health conditions they may already have. Kids breathe at faster rates than adults, thereby getting a higher dose of secondhand smoke. Also, most children have little control over their environment, meaning that they cannot open a window or leave the home to get fresh air. Children with smoking mothers often receive very high doses of secondhand smoke and are a greater risk of damaging health effects.

The adverse effects of secondhand smoke on children are considerable. Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke results in increased numbers of lower respiratory tract infections, like pneumonia and bronchitis. Environmental tobacco smoke is responsible for increased hospitalizations due to respiratory tract infections. ETS increases the risk of middle ear infections as well. Alarmingly, the risk of sudden infant death syndrome is also increased by exposure to secondhand smoke.

Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children. Exposing children to secondhand smoke can cause new cases of asthma in previously health children. It also worsens or triggers asthma attacks in those children already diagnosed with asthma. The EPA estimates that nearly 1 million children are affected by this each year.

Breathing in secondhand smoke hurts adults too. An estimated 3,000 lung cancer deaths in nonsmokers occur each year as a result of exposure to ETS. Likewise, it increases the risk of heart disease; and because of the time it takes for a carcinogen (cancer causing agent) to produce cancer (the latency period), exposure to secondhand smoke during childhood does not show up as lung cancer until the person is an adult.

Protecting children and adults from ETS is very important. Here are a few easy things you can do to protect your family from secondhand smoke. If you are a smoker, until you quit, please smoke outside. Since most exposure occurs in the home or car, not smoking in the house or car greatly decreases how much children are exposed. Politely insist that family and visitors to your home not smoke inside. Simply moving to another room does not provide adequate protection for your children and nonsmoking family members.

And remember, the best way to quit smoking is to just keep trying.

Jennifer Tinch, MD, MPH is an Occupational and Environmental Medicine physician. She specializes in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of environmental and work-related injuries and illnesses. Dr. Tinch may be reached at Cumberland Medical Center in the Occupational Medicine Clinic at (931) 459-7246.