Secondhand Smoke, Firsthand Risk
Vancouver Teenagers Call Attention to Dangers of Children Exposed to Smoking
By Tom Vogt, The Columbian Staff Writer
Friday, November 19, 2004
This time, the smoke swirling around inside the car wasn't going to make an infant sick.
Juan Rivera volunteered his car for a demonstration Wednesday as a group of Clark County students joined in the Great American Smokeout.
Members of the teen group BREATHE focused on the danger of secondhand smoke in a rally at the Clark County Health Department.
Rivera's SUV was pumped full of smoke to illustrate the hazards for children riding along with a heavy smoker.
According to the Washington Department of Health, one hour in a closed room with a smoker is the equivalent of smoking three cigarettes. A car is a lot smaller than a typical family room, and children's lungs are much more vulnerable to the chemical cocktail of secondhand smoke.
The "smoke" actually was generated by a fog machine the kind used for parties so Rivera was able open his windows, air out his car and drive home without choking.
Not everybody is as lucky, he said during the rally, which was part of the American Cancer Society's 28th annual anti-tobacco event.
The Skyview High School senior recalled pulling up to a stoplight next to another vehicle. It was a hot day, but the van's windows were closed. The driver was puffing on a cigarette and Rivera watched as the smoke swirled around the woman's passengers two toddlers in safety seats and two young boys.
"To watch the smoke while it moved to the back of the van was incredible," Rivera said.
Maybe it's just a lack of education, he said, and maybe Rivera is a little more aware of the dangers because his dad, Dr. Juan Rivera, is a Vancouver pediatrician.
But the statistics are hard to ignore, said John Wiesman, director of the Clark County Health Department.
Secondhand smoke increases a baby's chances of dying from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). It causes about 26,000 cases of asthma a year in otherwise healthy children.
Secondhand smoke leads to 150,000 to 300,000 cases of respiratory illness a year in children 18 months and younger.
"Don't expose others to your smoke certainly not children," Wiesman said. "And if you smoke, try to stop. Even if it is the tenth time you try, this might be the time."
Did you know?
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 3,000 lung-cancer deaths and 35,000 heart-disease deaths occur annually among adult nonsmokers in the United States as a result of exposure to secondhand smoke
Each year, secondhand smoke is associated with an estimated 8,000 to 26,000 new asthma cases in children, and 150,000 to 300,000 new cases of bronchitis and pneumonia in children younger than 18 months (7,500 to 15,000 require hospitalization).