The Dirty Legacy of Secondhand Smoke
"Poof! Up in smoke." It's shorthand for something that's gone in a flash, leaving just the faintest trace.
Researchers, however, are discovering that each whiff of tobacco smoke leaves behind a horrific legacy, both for the smoker and children unlucky enough to breathe it. The ravages of secondhand smoke are more clearly documented with each new study.
Skills Decline, Behavioral Problems Rise
"In 2002, our study at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center showed that exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, even at extremely low levels, is associated with decreases in certain cognitive skills, including reading, math and logic, and reasoning in children and teens," says Kimberly Yolton, PhD. Dr. Yolton, a developmental psychologist, is a researcher at Children's Environmental Health Center at Cincinnati Children's and the study's main author.
"In 2006, we presented findings from a Cincinnati-area study that showed tobacco smoke exposure correlated with increased behavioral problems in children and pre-teens. That includes acting out, attention problems, aggression and hyperactivity, as well as internalizing problems, such as withdrawal, anxiety and depression," Dr. Yolton says.
Proven Health Risks
This new research adds to the long list of children's health problems linked to secondhand smoke:
- Twice the risk for colic
- Reduced growth rate
- Two to three times greater risk for
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) - Reduced lung functions
- Two to four times greater risk for recurrent ear infections, potentially leading to hearing and speech problems
- Increased respiratory symptoms and acute lower respiratory tract infections, such as bronchitis and pneumonia. Secondhand smoke aggravates asthma
"We need to work together to protect our children," Dr. Yolton says. "There is no acceptable level of exposure." Smoking is the nation's largest single preventable cause of death and disability.
Telltale Signs
In each study, researchers measured a child's exposure to secondhand smoke by the amount of cotinine in the blood or hair. Cotinine is produced when the body processes nicotine. For the cognitive skills study, researchers measured cotinine in the blood of 4,399 children between 6 and 16 years old. Children whose levels indicated secondhand smoke exposure then completed standardized intelligence and achievement tests for reading, math and memory. They were also asked to assemble blocks quickly and accurately to test logic and reasoning skills.
The greater the exposure, the greater the decline in reading, math and reasoning ability researchers found, even at extremely low levels of exposure, Dr. Yolton says. The study's findings translate into a one-point decline in a standardized reading test and a .75-point decline in a standardized math test.
The second study included 225 Cincinnati-area children who had asthma and were exposed to secondhand smoke at home. In addition to health measures, researchers collected ratings of child behavior from parents and teachers. Children with the highest levels of exposure to secondhand smoke, measured by blood and hair samples, had more behavior problems than children with lower levels of exposure.
| Cincinnati Children's Goes Tobacco Free |
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| To help protect the health of children who arrive as both visitors and patients, Cincinnati Children's is expanding its ban on tobacco. Beginning January 1, 2007, Cincinnati Children's will be totally tobacco free on all of its property, inside and out, including grounds, parking lots, outpatient centers and other locations. |
National Impact
"People might not think these numbers are huge, but more than 13 million children in the United States are exposed to environmental tobacco smoke at these levels. If 13 million people lose an IQ point, that shifts the whole population down," she explains.
Across America, it's reported that 25 percent of children are exposed to secondhand smoke at home, yet more than 50 percent of children have detectable levels of cotinine in their blood, according to Dr. Yolton.
"Either parents are under-reporting, or they don't know all the places their children are exposed to smoke. We need to work together to limit and ultimately eliminate these risks for our children."
