In addition to causing health problems for smokers, cigarette smoke has become recognized as an indoor pollutant that threatens the nonsmoking public. Children and fetuses prove especially vulnerable to the toxic effects of tobacco smoke, which increases the risk for developmental and delivery problems. Smokers themselves suffer from the highest risks for deadly lung cancer, heart disease and lung disease. The American Cancer Society points out that half of all smokers who don't quit will die from related health problems.
Carcinogenic
With more than 50 identified carcinogens in cigarettes, an increased cancer risk threatens everyone who comes into contact with tobacco smoke or its residues. These become absorbed by the bloodstream and carried throughout the body. The U.S. Surgeon General lists cancers of the blood, mouth, stomach, lungs and bladder among the possible sites.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services notes that smoke need not be inhaled to cause carcinogenic health problems. Nicotine and other cancer-causing particles can transfer via smoke to people's hair and clothes and brought indoors to contaminate rugs, curtains and other household objects.
Respiratory
Cigarette smoke damages the cilia and alveoli, components of the airways and lungs, causing inflammation and swelling and making it difficult to breathe. People with asthma may suffer more severe attacks. People who inhale tobacco smoke may also get more frequent respiratory infections, including pneumonia.
Other resulting health problems for smokers include emphysema and chronic bronchitis, the latter of which produces a "smoker's cough" to rid the airways of obstruction. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, notes that these serious conditions combine to form the fourth leading cause of American deaths.
Cardiovascular
Tobacco smoke causes heart disease in both smokers and nonsmokers, according to the CDC. It damages the lining of blood vessels and increases blood clotting tendencies, raising the risk for heart attack and stroke.
Cigarette smokers themselves have a decreased exercise tolerance. This limited endurance plus the likelihood of higher blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels further increases the chance for catastrophic cardiac events.
Reproductive
Individuals who wish to have children should stay away from cigarette smoke, which the CDC identifies as a possible cause for infertility, stillbirth and sudden infant death syndrome. Pregnant women in contact with smoke have an increased danger of premature births and low birth-weight babies.
CDC scientific evidence also finds the carcinogens in cigarettes responsible for cancers of the uterus and cervix, and lists them as potential factors in cancers of the prostate and breast.
