First, I think it is important for people to realize that inhaling secondhand smoke is as bad as smoking. Leading organizations like the American Lung Association and the Centers for Disease Control confirm that children who inhale secondhand smoke are at greater risk for developing asthma,other respiratory illnesses, ear infections and there is a link between secondhand smoke and sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS. It is also documented that secondhand smoke makes asthma worse. The smoke irritates already sensitive lung tissue leading to more severe and more frequent asthma attacks.
For pregnant women who smoke or are exposed to smoke, the effects are equally bad. Not only is her health at risk, but so is her baby's.
The other reason for the topic repeat is that last month secondhand smoke made national headlines when EPA Administrator Christie Whitman unveiled a new environmental health campaign designed to protect millions of America's children from the risks of secondhand smoke in their own homes. It's called the Smoke-Free Home Pledge Initiative. "Because children have unique vulnerabilities - they absorb greater concentrations of smoke than adults do from the same exposure - we must use greater caution in protecting them from environmental threats to their health," said EPA Administrator Christie Whitman. "One of the ways parent/caregiversgivers can do this is by taking the Smoke-Free Home Pledge - simply choosing not to smoke, and not letting others smoke, in your home or anywhere children are present. Of course, we encourage people to quit smoking entirely. We realize that is difficult, so until they can take that step, we ask that they smoke outside."
The EPA has established a hotline, 1-800-513-1157, to take pledges from parents and reinforce their commitment with a certificate and supporting materials. A Secondhand Smoke and Children's Health Community Action Kit, which is a binder filled with everything a local, public health group would need to set up a local pledge program, is also part of the initiative. Fifteen hundred of the binders have already been given to local programs.
If your home is not already smoke-free, isn't it about time? Why expose your family and yourself to the more than 400 toxins contained in secondhand smoke? Placing a lit cigarette in the mouth of a child or infant is unthinkable. Yet, that is exactly what secondhand smoke does.
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