If you would like to quit smoking, contact your local American Lung Association for more information on their Freedom From Smoking® programs. This is the most important step you can take to protect yourself and your family from the dangers of secondhand smoke. Funding provided through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. We need your support to fight lung disease, the third leading cause of death in the U.S. Call your local American Lung Association to find out how you can help. Call 1-800-LUNG-USA (1-800-586-4872) When You Can't Breathe, Nothing Else Matters® AMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION, family from BBB AMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION® milieu you smoke, lf©i§r family smokes! #1452 4/97 ------- ECONDHAND SMOKE is the smoke exhaled from the lungs of smokers and the smoke that comes from the burning end of a cigarette, cigar or pipe. In fact, the smoke from the burning end of a cigarette, cigar or pipe that goes directly into the air is more dangerous to everyone around you than the smoke you breathe out! Secondhand smoke contains more than 4,000 substances, more than 40 of which are known to cause cancer in humans or animals and many of which are strong irritants. 9 Don't smoke in your house or let anyone else smoke in your house. 6 Don't smoke around children, especially infants and toddlers. • Don't allow anyone to smoke around your children. ® If someone in your family insists on smoking in the house, open windows or use a fan to send smoke out a window in the room where smoking takes place. e Let family, friends and people you work with know that you do care if they smoke around you. 9 In your car, do not smoke or allow others to smoke while the windows are rolled up. • In restaurants and bars, ask to sit in the nonsmoking area. e Make sure your child's day-care/ school and after-school programs are smoke free. « Ask your employer to make sure you do not have to breathe other people's smoke at work. OI997 AMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION ------- • SECONDHAND SMOKE causes about 3,000 deaths each year from lung cancer in people who don't smoke. 9 SECONDHAND SMOKE causes irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat. * SECONDHAND SMOKE can also irritate the lungs, leading to coughing, excessive phlegm, and chest discomfort. • SECONDHAND SMOKE has been linked with the onset of chest pains and may affect the heart, according to some studies. 9 Children who breathe SECONDHAND SMOKE are more likely to suffer from pneumonia, bronchitis, and other lung diseases. e Children who breathe SECONDHAND SMOKE have more ear infections. ® Children who breathe SECONDHAND SMOKE are more likely to develop asthma. e Children who have asthma and who breathe SECONDHAND SMOKE have more asthma attacks. 9 There are an estimated 150,000 to 300,000 cases every year of infections, such as bronchitis and pneumonia in infants and children under 18 months of age who breathe SECONDHAND SMOKE. These result in between 7,500 and - 15,000 hospitalizations! ------- |