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Even
30 minutes of
secondhand smoke exposure
daily can cause heart damage similar to that
of a habitual smoker.
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People who are exposed to daily secondhand smoke have a 30% higher
death and disease rate than that of non-smokers.
Secondhand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death
in this country, behind smoking and alcohol/drug abuse.
It is estimated that secondhand smoke causes 3,000 lung cancer deaths
and more than 50,000 coronary heart disease deaths every year.
Secondhand smoke is also associated with sudden infant death syndrome
(SIDS) and unhealthy (lower birth weight) infants. Smoking by mothers
is linked to a higher risk of their babies developing asthma in
childhood.
Babies and children raised in a household where there is smoking
have more ear infections, colds, bronchitis, and other respiratory
problems than children from non-smoking families
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