The dangers of smoking have been well-known and well-publicized for 30 years. Smoking causes several types of cancer, as well as emphysema, and contributes to heart disease and other problems. Over 400,000 Americans a year die from smoking-related diseases.

Secondhand smoke refers to the smoke inhaled by everyone in a given environment, whether they choose to smoke or not. Kids who live, work, study, or play in a smokey environment are receiving secondhand smoke. The tobacco smoke floating in the air of a room is as toxic to humans as smoke inhaled through a cigarette. In fact, the smoke in the air may be even more toxic, since it doesn’t pass through a filter but is inhaled directly from the air. Secondhand smoke contains 4000 chemicals including ammonia (used to clean toilets), cyanide (used to kill rats), and formaldehyde (use to preserve dead frogs!). There is no safe level of exposure.

Pregnant women are breathing for two! Secondhand smoke may cause low birth weight, and may also cause infants to be born with serious health problems. The non-smoker (like your child) who spends the day in a smoky environment is exposing his lungs to the same irritation he would get from smoking one to ten cigarettes. The range depends on the amount of time spend in the smoky room and the density of the smoke.

It’s an unhappy fact that babies and small children are often the secondhand smokers; a baby who spends his day in a closed house with his smoking parents is inhaling the equivalent of several cigarettes. Meanwhile, he is developing the tendency to get more colds, coughs, and ear infections. He may experience more frequent and severe asthma attacks and respiratory infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia.

And he is getting used to having smoke in his environment, the first step in his acceptance of smoking as a normal activity.

Children of four and up begin to discriminate between smoke and clean air, and they are likely to object to their parents’ smoking. School-age children find the smell of tobacco smoke unpleasant and complain that they don’t like the way their house smells. But by the age of 11 or 12, most kids give up the fight – and this is just the age at which they begin to have the opportunity to start smoking cigarettes on their own.

If you smoke, your kids are 10 times more likely to become smokers.