Child Respiratory Problem (Yes) Lung Cancer (Yes)

Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), also known as secondhand smoke, causes illness and death in both children and adults. Children exposed to ETS are at increased risk of middle ear infections and a variety of respiratory conditions—some of which are fatal.1 Pregnant women exposed to ETS are at increased risk for having a low birth weight baby.2 Exposure to ETS causes an estimated 3,000 lung cancer deaths and 35,000 to 62,000 ischemic heart disease deaths in non-smoking adults each year.3,4 The elimination of exposure to ETS is one of four key goals identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a means to limit the health and economic burden caused by tobacco.5 This summary of exposure to and attitudes toward ETS in Alaska is the fourth in a series of Bulletins that describe Alaska’s heavy burden of tobacco-related disease, as reported in the new publication: Tobacc