Major Studies Linking Secondhand Smoke with Cancer and Other Disease

Facts about Secondhand Smoke
Secondhand smoke is also known as involuntary smoking or passive smoking because non-smokers can inhale the same chemicals, toxins and carcinogens in tobacco smoke inhaled by active smokers. In fact, most of the toxic chemicals produced by cigarettes end up in the air non-smokers breathe rather than being inhaled by the smoker.

Secondhand Smoke: A Deadly Chemical Compound
Over 4,000 chemicals are in secondhand smoke, 43 of which are known carcinogens (known to cause cancer.)¹ Some of the ingredients of secondhand smoke include¹:

• Nicotine - an insecticide
• Arsenic - used in rat poison
• Acetone - nail polish remover
• Ammonia - toilet bowl cleaner

Secondhand Smoke Kills
Secondhand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death in America today, killing more than 53,000 people every year.²

Over 3,250 children die every year do to secondhand smoke, including 2,000 from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and 1,000 from respiratory infections directly caused by exposure to secondhand smoke. ³

Non-Smoking Sections Don't Help
Sitting in the non-smoking section of a restaurant for over an hour can be as harmful as smoking 1 ¹/₂ cigarettes.⁴

Two hours in a smoky bar is the same as smoking nearly four cigarettes. ⁴

Employees are Especially at Risk
Food service workers have a 50% higher risk of lung cancer.⁵

Employees exposed to secondhand smoke on the job are 34% more likely to get lung cancer.⁶

Restaurant workers are at risk far more than many other types of workers. Secondhand smoke causes 30 times as many cases of lung cancer as all regulated air pollutants combined.⁷

Pregnant Women and Children
Asthma is twice as common among children exposed to secondhand smoke and they are less likely to outgrow their asthma than children who have not been exposed.⁸

Babies born to pregnant women exposed to secondhand smoke have significantly reduced birth weights.⁹

Up to 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections are caused in children each year by secondhand smoke.¹⁰

Protecting Public Health Protects Business
A scientific review of four cities in Texas analyzed tax receipts from restaurants after a smoke-free ban was passed and found no long-term effect on restaurant sales or revenue.¹¹

Studies of sales tax data in 81 localities in six states consistently demonstrated that restricting smoking in restaurants had no effect on revenues.¹²

Employees in non-smoking workplaces are healthier, miss less work due to illness, and cost less to insure. Non-smoking restaurants also save money on cleaning, maintenance, and insurance costs.