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Fact Sheet

Secondhand Smoke Causes Lung Cancer

(October 2006)

• Secondhand smoke causes lung cancer in adults who have never smoked themselves.¹
  • Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke at home or at work increase their risk of developing lung cancer by 20–30%.¹
  • Secondhand smoke causes approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths among U.S. nonsmokers each year.¹
• Cancer is the second most common cause of death in the United States.
  • Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women.²
  • Every year more U.S. women die from lung cancer than die from breast cancer.²
  • More than 160,000 lung cancer deaths are expected in 2006.²
  • Most cases of lung cancer are caused by active smoking, but exposure to secondhand smoke is an important cause among nonsmokers.^1,2
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Institutes of Health National Toxicology Program, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer have concluded that secondhand smoke is a known human carcinogen.^3,4,5 The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has concluded that secondhand smoke is an occupational carcinogen.⁶
• Secondhand smoke contains more than 50 cancer-causing chemicals. Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke are inhaling many of the same cancer-causing substances and poisons as smokers.¹
  • Even brief secondhand smoke exposure can damage cells in ways that set the cancer process in motion.¹
  • Some damage is reversible, but some is not.¹
  • As with active smoking, there is a dose-response relationship between secondhand smoke exposure and lung cancer—the longer the duration and the higher the level of exposure, the greater the risk of developing lung cancer.¹
  • There is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke.¹

References

1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, Georgia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Coordinating Center for Health Promotion, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2006 [cited 2006 Oct 23]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/sgr_2006/index.htm.
2. American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts and Figures 2006. Atlanta, Georgia: American Cancer Society, 2006 [cited 2006 Oct 23].
3. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking: Lung Cancer and Other Disorders. Washington, D.C.: Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Office of Health and Environmental Assessment, 1992 [cited 2006 Oct 23]. Publication No. EPA/600/6-90/006F. Available from: http://oaspub.epa.gov/eims/eimscomm.getfile?p_download_id=36793
4. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 9th Report on Carcinogens. Research Triangle Park, North Carolina: U.S. Department of Health and Human Sciences, Public Health Service, National Toxicology Program, 2000 [cited 2006 Oct 23].
5. International Agency for Research on Cancer. IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans: Tobacco Smoke and Involuntary Smoking. Volume 83. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer, 2004 [cited 2006 Oct 23].
6. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Environmental Tobacco Smoke in the Workplace: Lung Cancer and Other Health Effects. Current Intelligence Bulletin 54. Cincinnati, Ohio: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Standards Development and Technology Transfer, Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies, 1991 [cited 2006 Oct 23]. DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 91-108.

For Further Information

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Office on Smoking and Health
E-mail: tobaccoinfo@cdc.gov
Phone: 1-800-CDC-INFO

Media Inquiries: Contact CDC's Office on Smoking and Health press line at 770-488-5493.

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