its effects, this argument can no longer be supported given the growing scientific evidence that second-hand smoke is a hazard to the health of non-smokers. Consider only the evidence for the harm second-hand smoke inflicts on children. It has been demonstrated that children whose parents smoke in the home have more colds and middle ear infections, are hospitalized more frequently for bronchitis and pneumonia, and have more frequent bouts of tonsillitis, leading to a greater percentage of tonsillectomies, than do children of nonsmokers. According to a study at the National Center for Health Statistics in Washington, D.C., 4.1 percent of children in households with smokers are in fair to poor health, as opposed to 2.4 percent of children never exposed to smoke in the home. Social influences such as a family's income level and education were not taken into consideration, though, so it is not possible for scientists to make a strong statement of causation. What scientists can do is establish a strong relationship between poor health in children and second-hand smoke.
There are also long-term health risks for children exposed to second-hand smoke, leading to serious health consequences later in life. A researcher at the University of California Medical School in San Francisco concludes that people exposed regularly to secondhand smoke have a 30 percent greater chance of dying from heart disease than do people who are not so exposed. This researcher also states that second-hand cigarette smoke kills 53,000 nonsmokers a year, including 37,000 deaths from heart disease. Children whose parents smoke may also be at increased risk of cancer, and men who smoke have children who have a 20 percent higher risk of developing leukemia, lymphoma, and brain cancer in their lifetime, according to a recent study by a team of researchers from the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and from the National In...