Last Updated: February 27, 2019
Description
Air Quality: Tobacco exposure in utero
Images: UNC CEHS COEC
Big idea: Tobacco smoke can damage lungs before birth and beyond.
Talking Points:
- There are more than 7,000 known chemicals in cigarette smoke. When inhaled, they irritate the lungs of a person with asthma and hinder lung function.
- Secondhand smoke also worsens other respiratory illnesses like bronchitis. It is among the most common indoor sources of polluted air.
- The effects of exposure to tobacco smoke can start early, affecting a person’s genetic makeup in utero and in early childhood. This exposure can result in the onset of asthma, respiratory infections, and weakened lungs.
- To be clear, there is no safe amount of tobacco smoke for the human body, either for the smoker or for people exposed to secondhand smoke.
Sources:
National Cancer Institute Fact Sheet, reviewed December 2017
National Cancer Institute – No Safe Level of Smoking, updated December 2016
Potaczek et al, 2017. Epigenetics and Allergy: From Basic Mechanisms to Clinical Applications.
Categories: Air Quality