The Facts

Cigarette smoke is a toxic soup of more than 4,000 known chemical compounds. Secondhand smoke is composed of sidestream smoke (the smoke released from the burning end of a cigarette) and exhaled mainstream smoke (the smoke exhaled by the smoker). Tobacco smoke contains thousands of different chemicals that are released into the air as particles and gases. The particulate phase of cigarette smoke includes nicotine, "tar" (itself composed of many chemicals), benzene and benzo(a)pyrene. The gas phase includes carbon monoxide, ammonia, dimethylnitrosamine, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide and acrolein. According to a November 2001 report issued by the National Cancer Institute, there are 69 known or probable carcinogens in cigarette smoke.
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For more information, visit our factsheet What Is In Secondhand Smoke?

SHS has been classified as a human carcinogen. Smoke from the burning end of a cigarette contains more than 4,000 chemicals and at least 60 carcinogens including: formaldehyde, cyanide, arsenic, carbon monoxide, methane, and benzene. The smoker, and anyone else nearby, inhales these chemicals.

The effects of even brief exposure (minutes to hours) to secondhand smoke can be nearly as large (averaging 80% to 90%) as chronic active smoking.

Even brief exposure of adults to secondhand smoke has immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and can cause coronary heart disease and lung cancer.

Exposure to secondhand smoke increases the risk of heart disease among non-smokers by as much as 60 percent.

Long-term exposure to secondhand smoke increases the risk of developing breast cancer in younger, primarily premenopausal, women.

Secondhand smoke exposure is associated with an increase in the number of episodes and severity of symptoms in children with asthma. It is estimated that 200,000 to 1,000,000 asthmatic children have their condition worsened by exposure to secondhand smoke.

ETS is a human lung carcinogen, responsible for approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths annually in U.S. nonsmokers.

For more information, visit our factsheet Health Harms from Secondhand Smoke.

U.S. Surgeon General Statements on Children and Secondhand Smoke:

• “Because their bodies are developing, infants and young children are especially vulnerable to the poisons in secondhand smoke.”
• “Secondhand smoke exposure causes children who already have asthma to experience more frequent and severe attacks.”
• “Secondhand smoke exposure causes respiratory symptoms, including cough, phlegm, wheeze, and breathlessness, among school-aged children.”

American Academy of Pediatrics’ on Children's Exposure to Tobacco Smoke:

• “Exposure during childhood to environmental tobacco smoke may also be associated with development of cancer during adulthood.”
• “Results of epidemiologic studies provide evidence that exposure of children to environmental tobacco smoke is associated with increased rates of lower respiratory illness and increased rates of middle ear effusion, asthma, and sudden infant death syndrome.”

For more information, visit our factsheet Harm to Kids from Secondhand Smoke.

In its report, Protection from Exposure to Secondhand Tobacco Smoke – Policy Recommendations, the World Health Organization (2007) stated that there is “indisputable evidence that implementing 100% smoke-free environments is the only effective way to protect the population from the harmful effects of exposure to SHS."

In a landmark study, the Institute of Medicine (2009) found that smoke-free policies reduce the number of heart attacks and save lives.

• A study at the University of Kansas (2009) suggests smokefree policy can decrease hospital admission for heart attacks by as much as 26%.

Smokefree air is good for business.

• A comprehensive examination of smoke-free laws published in 2007 concluded that “the vast majority of scientific evidence indicates that there is no negative economic impact of clean indoor air policies, with many studies finding that there may be some positive effects on local businesses”.
• Studies of sales tax data from 81 localities in six states consistently demonstrate that ordinances restricting smoking in restaurants have no effect on restaurant revenues.
• Furthermore, going 100% smokefree indoors reduces maintenance costs and medical costs, legal liability, and increased worker productivity and morale.

The Society of Actuaries has determined that secondhand smoke costs the U.S. $10 billion a year: $5 billion in estimated medical costs, and another $4.6 billion in lost wages.

For more information, visit our factsheet Smokefree Laws Do Not Harm Business at Restaurants and Bars.

Secondhand smoke knows no boundaries. Nonsmoking sections and smoking rooms do not eliminate nonsmokers’ exposure to secondhand smoke.

Repace Associates, Inc. (Secondhand smoke consultants): “[I]t is clear that dilution ventilation, air cleaning, or displacement ventilation technology even under moderate smoking conditions cannot control [secondhand smoke exposure] risk to de minimis levels for workers or patrons in hospitality venues without massively impractical increases in ventilation …”

The makers of ventilation equipment don’t claim its effectiveness.

According to the Roswell Park Cancer Institute (2007), despite the expensive, state-of-the-art ventilation system installed in an East St. Louis Casino, air quality testing revealed that employees and patrons are still exposed to harmful levels of fine particle air pollution as a result of indoor smoking.

For more information, visit our factsheet Ventilation Technology Does Not Protect People from Secondhand Smoke.

The results of ballot initiatives and polls conducted nationwide show broad voter support for smokefree laws – both before and after these laws go into effect.

• Kansas voters overwhelmingly support a smokefree state. More than two-thirds (71 percent) of Kansans support prohibiting smoking in all indoor work and public places, including restaurants and bars. (Wilson Research Strategies survey of 501 registered Kansas voters conducted 2-10-09 to 2-11-09 and released in February 2009 by the American Cancer Society).
• Nearly six months after implementation of the statewide smokefree workplace law in Illinois, a poll found that nearly three out of four (73 percent) voters support the smokefree law, with 62 percent expressing strong support. Just 25 percent of voters oppose the law. The margin of support grew by 10 percentage points from a similar poll conducted a year ago. (Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research survey of 606 registered voters in Illinois conducted 5-28-08 to 6-1-08).
• By nearly a three-to-one margin (71 percent to 25 percent), Iowa voters would favor a local ordinance in their community that would prohibit smoking in most indoor public places and workplaces, including restaurants and bars. More than half of voters (57 percent) strongly favor a local smokefree ordinance. (QEV Analytics survey of 500 Iowa voters 1-21-05 to 1-23-05).

Will we allow our neighbors to protect the health of their community members and workers while we stay behind? It’s time for Springfield to stand up for the health of our community.  Smokefree air saves lives.

For more information, visit our factsheet Voters Across the Country Express Strong Support for Smokefree Laws.

In a 1992 report, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) outlined a number of the serious diseases and health risks caused by secondhand smoke. In response to tobacco industry legal challenges, in August 1998 a U.S. District Court in North Carolina struck down the report's finding that secondhand smoke is a "Class A" carcinogen (i.e., a carcinogen with no safe level of exposure for humans), saying that EPA had not followed certain required procedures and that the evidence -- in 1992 -- did not support its finding.

On December 11, 2002, however, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated the judgment of the lower court, ruling that the EPA report was not a reviewable agency action under the Administrative Procedures Act and dismissed the case brought by the tobacco industry. In addition, numerous studies since 1992 and since the EPA finding have firmly established that secondhand smoke is not only a carcinogen but also causes heart disease, and numerous other serious health problems among nonsmokers, especially children, and kills thousands of people each year.

For more information, visit our factsheet Secondhand Smoke, EPA, and the Courts.

"If children don't like to be in a smoky room, they'll leave," [when asked about infants who can't leave a smoky room], "At some point, they begin to crawl." – Charles Harper, R.J. Reynolds Chairman. April 18, 1996.

"There is no such thing as a safe cigarette.” – William S Ohlemeyer Vice President and associate general counsel Philip Morris. March 22, 2002.

"About 90% of legislation at the state level [adversely] affecting our industry will not be enacted... [Why?] Because we're good. That may sound arrogant, but I don't know any other way to put it." – Walker Merryman, The Tobacco Institute Vice President, governing. May 1989.

"I don't think I'd set money above public health...(but) I have responsibilities to employees, stockholders, to the community generally.. I would say they're all equally important." – Geoffrey C. Bible, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Philip Morris Companies, quote from testimony. Wall Street Journal, March 3, 1998.

Remarking about the $831,053 RJR Nabisco contributed in 'soft money' donations to political parties in the 15 months ending March 31, 1996, Carter stated that the contributions "allow us to get our toe in the door" and "present our side of the issue." – Peggy Carter, Director of Legal, Regulatory and Science Issues, RJR Nabisco. New York Times: B6, June 24, 1996.