Passive Smoking Exposure

Environmental tobacco smoke is a preventable cause of significant morbidity and mortality among non-smokers. Reducing exposure to tobacco smoke is an essential community and public health objective. This report documents the substantial evidence characterizing the health risks caused by exposure to passive smoking. Multiple major reviews of evidence have concluded that environmental tobacco smoke is a known human carcinogen and that exposure to passive smoke causes adverse effects like SIDS, congenital birth defects, lead poisoning, and lung cancer. Regrettably, reductions in exposure have been slower among small children than among adults, as growing workplace restriction protects the majority of adults while the homes remain the most important source of exposure for children. The relationship between passive smoking exposure and potential health hazards to all ages of population were researched. We analyzed and systematically reviewed information from multiple literature sources. We found that everyone from the fetus to the elderly is significantly affected by passive smoking. Like firsthand smoking, secondhand smoking is also hazardous. Health education and regulations regarding secondhand smoking in both the office and home area can improve public health. This paper indicates a critical need for second hand smoke reduction interventions especially among vulnerable populations.

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Modified effect of active or passive smoking on the association between age and abdominal aortic calcification: a nationally representative cross-sectional study

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-047645 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (10) ◽

pp. e047645

Author(s):

Luyan Lv ◽

Shixian Wu ◽

Yungui Yang ◽

Xiongli Yue

Keyword(s):

Vascular Calcification ◽

Passive Smoking ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Serum Cotinine ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Age Related ◽

Abdominal Aortic ◽

Smoking Exposure ◽

Nationally Representative ◽

Never Smokers

ObjectiveThe deleterious effects of smoking on atherosclerosis were well known; however, the interaction among ageing, smoking and atherosclerosis remains unclear. This study tested the hypothesis that the association between age and vascular calciﬁcation, a critical mark of atherosclerosis, was modified by smoking.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingA nationally representative sample, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys 2013–2014.ParticipantsThis study included 3140 adults aged 40–80 years with eligible data for abdominal aortic calcification (AAC). Active and passive smoking exposure was identified through self-reports and tobacco metabolites (serum cotinine and urinary 4-methylnitrosamino-3-pyridyl-1-butanol).Primary outcome measuresAAC score was determined using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans. OR was estimated using the logistic regression method to assess the association between age and the presence of severe or subclinical AAC stratified by smoking exposure. The survey-weighted Wald test was used to evaluate potential interactions.ResultsAAC was positively associated with age in the general population. After adjustment for age, sex, race/ethnicity and other cardiovascular risk factors, age was significantly associated with the odds of severe AAC (OR for each 5-year increase in age: 1.66, 95% CI 1.48 to 1.87, p<0.001). As expected, the association between age and vascular calcification was especially stronger in smokers than in never smokers (p value for interaction ≤0.014). According to spline fitting, the progression of vascular calcification was significantly increased after 45 years in smokers compared with that after 60 years in never smokers. Quitting smoking may compromise the deleteriousness of the vascellum especially in younger adults. However, the difference in age-related calcification among never smokers with or without secondhand smoke exposure was minor, regardless of the definition by self-report, serum cotinine, or urinary 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol.ConclusionsSmoking significantly accelerated the progression of age-related subclinical atherosclerosis. Early smoking cessation should be encouraged among young smokers. The effect of passive smoking exposure on arteriosclerosis should be assessed further.

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Passive smoking exposure of sick children in Hong Kong

Human & Experimental Toxicology ◽

10.1191/096032799678839950 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 224-228 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Sophia SC Chan ◽

Tai Hing Lam ◽

Carol L Betson

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Health Risks ◽

Passive Smoking ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Smoking Exposure ◽

Smoking Behaviors ◽

Sick Children ◽

At Home

1 This study aims to investigate the extent of passive smoking exposure of sick children in Hong Kong; their father' smoking behaviors and their mother' action to protect the child from environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). 2 This cross-sectional survey was the first phase of a randomized controlled trial on a health education intervention provided by nurses in the general paediatric wards of four major hospitals in Hong Kong. The subjects are non-smoking mothers of sick children admitted to hospital and with a smoking husband living together in the same household with the child. Eligible subjects completed a self-administered baseline questionnaire before entering into the trial. 3 All the 848 children whose mothers completed the questionnaire during December 1997 to April 1998 had a smoking father. They constituted about 24% (95% CI: 22.6-24.9%) of all the sick children during the same period. More than half of the children' fathers (55%; 51.6-58.3%) smoked 1-14 cigarettes per day and about 68% (64.7-71.0%) of them were daily smokers for over 10 years. Over half (53%; 49.4-56.2%) of the fathers smoked 1-14 cigarettes at home every day. About 21% of the fathers smoked near the child occasionally and 31% (27.4-33.6%) smoked 1-14 cigarettes near the child per day. About 16% of the children lived with more than one smoker (2-3). About 86% (83.3-88.0%) of the children had 1-3 smokers who smoked at home and 61% (58.1-64.7%) of them had 1-3 smokers who smoked near them every day. However, 70% ofthe children were reported by their mothers as exposed to ETS at home. This percentage (70%) was less than the percentage (86%) of smokers who smoked at home daily. About 31.1% of the mothers reported symptoms of coughing and running nose (20.6%) in their children when they were exposed to ETS. To protect the child from ETS exposure, 43% of the mothers requested the father not to smoke near the child, 33.1% requested the father to smoke less cigarettes and 31.5% advised the father to quit smoking. 4 In conclusion, sick children in Hong Kong are at risk of exposure to ETS, but not all mothers are aware of the health risks and their actions were inadequate. There is a critical need to promote awareness of ETS exposure and the health risks in the family in Hong Kong so as to reduce illness and hospital admission in children.

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