A continuing menace - secondhand smoke

By Martin Merzer on 11/10/2010 @ 10:59 AM

Even in this day and age, and despite a mountain of scientific evidence, many parents still do not understand - or are ignoring - the damage that their cigarette smoking could be inflicting on their children.

A new study reports that tobacco carcinogens were found in the urine of 90 percent of children who lived in a home where at least one parent smoked, according to an article posted on the HealthDay website.

Researchers identified a direct correlation between the number of cigarettes smoked each day by adults at home and the level of tobacco carcinogens in their children. The children who participated in the study were between the ages of 1 month and 10 years old.

"No one knows the long-term impact of cumulative exposure to these chemicals," said lead researcher Janet L. Thomas of the University of Minnesota. "It could prime the body in some way that leads to DNA changes in cells that might contribute to lung damage, and potentially lung cancer."

Click here to read the entire article and here for more information about children and secondhand smoke.

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