Secondhand Smoke

Research

Secondhand smoke damages children’s hearts
Researchers in Finland have demonstrated that even small amounts of secondhand smoke can damage a child’s arteries. The researchers measured cotinine in the blood of 400 children annually between the ages of eight and eleven. Based on these cotinine levels, 229 children fell into the non-detectable cotinine group, 134 fell in the low-cotinine group, and 39 qualified for the high-cotinine group. When the children reached the age of 11, researchers used ultrasound to assess blood vessel function in the brachial artery. They observed that the children with the highest levels of cotinine also had significantly poorer arterial health. To read more about the study, published in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation, click here.

Secondhand smoke harmful to household pets
A recent survey highlighted in a Scottish newspaper suggests that approximately half of pet owners smoke around their pets and that they do not realize that secondhand smoke is just as dangerous to these animals as it is to humans. Researchers found that cats and dogs were more susceptible to bronchitis if they lived in a home where smoking is allowed. They also concluded that smoking is linked to feline lymphoma, tumors of the mouth in cats, and bronchitis in both cats and dogs. Click here to read more.

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