The Dangers of Second Hand Smoke #brakesonsmoking

I was brought up in a smoking household which was something I detested.

I have an overriding memory of constantly nagging my parents to stop smoking and once they jokingly tried forced me to take a drag of a cigarette – horrid!

Looking back at my childhood I regularly suffered from ear infections and mild asthma and used to spend most winters with a barking cough that no amount of disgusting cough mixtures would get rid of.  My parents would think nothing of lighting up in the house or car, sometimes only opening a window to throw a butt out.

I have to admit that I succumbed to peer pressure at the age of 17 and started smoking myself but I never really enjoyed it and was only ever a social smoker.  I found it easy to give up when I got pregnant with Abbey and successfully stayed off until she was 13 months old.  I am not sure whatever possessed me to start again but I did the same thing again with both Callan and Kian, finally kicking the habit for good in 2003.

When my eldest were small I worked in a pub, long before the smoking ban came in and I hated the way my hair, my clothes and even my car smelled after a shift.  I have to admit that I breathed a sigh of relief when the ban came in and could go out and not come away stinking of stale tobacco.  They say being an ex-smoker makes you notice it more and I have to say that I am terrible.  I cannot abide walking through a cloud of smoke at the school gates or local shopping centre however I would much rather people smoked outside than in their cars or homes!

Why?

It is now widely known that secondhand smoke is harmful to anyone exposed to it and 80% of secondhand smoke is invisible and odourless.  Children are especially vulnerable due to having less developed airways, lungs and immune systems, combined with the fact that they breathe more rapidly than adults. Shockingly exposure of children to secondhand smoke is responsible for over 300,000 general practice consultations and 9,500 hospital admissions in the UK each year.

Public Health England has just launched their campaign in support of its NHS Smokefree Homes and Cars campaign which can be found online, on television and on radio

Secondhand smoke is a real and substantial threat to a child’s health. Every time a child breathes in secondhand smoke, they breathe in thousands of chemicals that can cause cancer and increase the risk of:

  • Lower respiratory infections (such as bronchitis and pneumonia) (up to 60% more likely)
  • Middle ear infection (up to 45% more likely)
  • Meningitis (more than twice as likely)
  • Decreased lung function (modestly more likely)
  • Sudden infant death syndrome (cot death more than three times as likely)

Tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, more than 50 of which cause cancer, including:

  • Tar – a mixture of dangerous chemicals
  • Arsenic – used in wood preservatives
  • Benzene – an industrial solvent, refined from crude oil
  • Cadmium – used in batteries
  • Formaldehyde – used in mortuaries and paint manufacturing
  • Polonium-210 – a highly radioactive element
  • Chromium – used to manufacture dye, paints and alloys
  • 1,3-Butadiene – used in rubber manufacturing
  • Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – a group of dangerous DNA-damaging chemicals
  • Nitrosamines – another group of DNA-damaging chemicals
  • Acrolein – formerly used as a chemical weapon

Other poisons in cigarette smoke include:

  • Hydrogen cyanide – used as an industrial pesticide
  • Carbon monoxide – found in car exhausts and used in chemicals manufacturing
  • Nitrogen oxides – a major component of smog
  • Ammonia – used to make fertilisers and explosives

If you are trying to give up smoking there is plenty of help on offer these days with free support tools and resources on www.nhs.co.uk/smokefree or by searching ‘Smokefree’:

  • Quit Kit – Posted to you, this kit comes with a handy calendar packed with tips and a Health and Wealth wheel which explains how well your body is doing and how much money you’re saving
  • Smokefree App – a free app that people can download to support them in the quit attempt wherever they are. It works on Android and Apple smartphones
  • Local Stop Smoking Service – people wishing for local face to face support from an expert throughout their quitting journey can find out where their local stop smoking service is
  • Text message support – quitters can receive daily messages proven to help keep them motivated and smokefree
  • Email support – provides daily emails with motivational support to help people keep on track

If you are planning on giving up smoking I wish you the best of luck – it is the best thing I ever did!

I’m working with BritMums and Public Health English alongside the #brakesonsmoking campaign. I have been compensated for my time. All editorial and opinions are my own. Visit www.nhs.uk/smokefree for free support and advice.

18 thoughts on “The Dangers of Second Hand Smoke #brakesonsmoking”

  1. It’s difficult to understand how these days, when everyone should know the risks, why they risk harming their child’s health in this way. My husband gave up when my son was small (and he wasn’t a big smoker anyway), but he always smoked in the garden a long way away from our living room.

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  2. I grew up in a smoking household too and vowed I would never start but I did! I gave up with both of my previous pregnancies but for one reason or another started again. I am determined not to start again this time, I hate the way it smells and, even though we have never smoked in the house, you still bring that smell in with you.

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  3. I have to admit to having fallen off the wagon AGAIN – so annoyed with myself after three years clean! We dont smoke around the kids tho – always outside and mostly when I am out at the pub!

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  4. my mum was a smoker up until 2006/2007 when she just quit. I was so proud of her for quitting. I tried one cigarette when I was 15 and I hated it and never touched one since. Even holding a cigarette makes me feel sick

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  5. I too am an ex smoker (also gave up in 2003). I started very young and remember being able to smoke in shops, on the bus etc – it was just the norm. So I am glad things are changing.

    I can’t believe it isn’t illegal outside schools, in children’s outdoor play areas, whilst pushing a baby in a pram/pushchair – but maybe that will come with time.

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  6. I grew up in a non-smoking household, but started smoking when I was quite young (around 14) and smoked on and off for most of my life. I’ve finally kicked the habit though and so wish I had done it earlier. I’ve watched these ads on tv and they are horrifying, especially when I know in the past I’ve smoked away from my son, but the reality is, it’s wafted into the house… I’ve said to my son to never smoke as it’s the worst thing I’ve ever done in my life.

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  7. As an ex smoker and also the daughter of a COPD sufferer, I swore my children would never be exposed to second or first hand smoke. The fact that Maxi has a chest condition reinforced that decision for me.

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  8. I grew up with parents who smoked too and particularly hated them smoking in the car. Remember having to leave a family party once because of smoke too. Great to hear your personal story. Commenting for myself and on behalf of BritMums and thanking you for taking part

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  9. I love this campaign. It’s so easy to forget how far-reaching smoke is when you can’t see it. I also remember that feeling of going to the pub and coming out smelling of smoke, all over your clothes and hair. Ugh.

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  10. Im never too sure how banning something educates people, you would hope that people/parents would understand the issues themselves, but I know a lot don’t x

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