|
|  |
 Printer Friendly
 Text Version  Email Page
| Secondhand Smoke Facts |
| Secondhand smoke is sometimes also referred to as environmental
tobacco smoke (ETS). ETS is a mixture of the smoke given off by the burning
ends of a cigarette, pipe, cigar, bidis and kreteks and the smoke emitted
between puffs and exhaled from the lungs of smokers. |
| Causes Cancer |
|
Secondhand smoke is a Group A carcinogen - a substance known to cause
cancer in humans for which there is no safe level of exposure.
|
|
Secondhand smoke contains over 4,000 compounds - more than 40 of these
are Group A carcinogens that cause cancer in humans and animals including:
ammonia, arsenic, benzene, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and hydrogen
cyanide.
|
| Causes Death |
|
At least 53,000 deaths annually in the U.S. and 2,000 deaths annually
in Michigan result from secondhand smoke-caused diseases.
|
|
Secondhand smoke exposure is the second leading cause of preventable
death in Michigan.
|
| Source: Centers for Disease Control,
2002. |
|
|
|
|
