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PASSAGE 1
Secondhand Smoke
Sure, you know smoking is a bad idea, but you're just hurting yourself, right? Not really. When you smoke, it doesn't just affect you. And it's not just irritating to those around you, it's deadly.

What is secondhand smoke?
Secondhand smoke is the combination of smoke from the burning end of a cigarette and the smoke breathed out by the smoker. It can stay in the air for several hours and travel up to 20 feet.

Did you know secondhand smoke kills?
There is no safe amount of secondhand smoke. Period. Even breathing secondhand smoke for just a short time can hurt your body. Over time, secondhand smoke causes disease and death in kids, teens, and adults—even if they do not smoke. Exposure to secondhand smoke can increase your risk of lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent.

Does secondhand smoke contain harmful chemicals? Yes. Among the more than 7,000 chemicals found in secondhand tobacco smoke, at least 250 are known to be harmful. At least 69 of the toxic chemicals in secondhand tobacco smoke cause cancer. Can you guess where else you can find these cancer-causing poisons?

What does secondhand smoke do to your heart?
Secondhand smoke not only can cause cancer, it can also lead to heart attack or heart disease. About 46,000 nonsmokers die from heart disease each year as a result of secondhand smoke.

How can you protect yourself and others from secondhand smoke?

Ask people not to smoke in your home or car
Avoid places that allow smoking indoors
Choose smoke-free restaurants
Tell your friends and family about secondhand smoke

PASSAGE 2
Secondhand Smoke and Cancer
Key Points
Secondhand smoke (also called environmental tobacco smoke, involuntary smoke, and passive smoke) is the smoke given off by a burning tobacco product and the smoke exhaled by a smoker.
At least 69 chemicals in secondhand smoke are known to cause cancer.
Secondhand smoke causes lung cancer in nonsmokers.
Secondhand smoke has also been associated with heart disease in adults and sudden infant death syndrome, ear infections, and asthma attacks in children.
There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.

What is secondhand smoke?

Secondhand smoke (also called environmental tobacco smoke, involuntary smoke, and passive smoke) is the combination of “sidestream” smoke (the smoke given off by a burning tobacco product) and “mainstream” smoke (the smoke exhaled by a smoker) (1–4).

The amount of smoke created by a tobacco product depends on the amount of tobacco available for burning. The amount of secondhand smoke emitted by smoking one large cigar is similar to that emitted by smoking an entire pack of cigarettes.

How is secondhand smoke exposure measured?

Secondhand smoke exposure can be measured by testing indoor air for nicotine or other chemicals in tobacco smoke. Exposure to secondhand smoke can also be tested by measuring the level of cotinine (a by-product of the breakdown of nicotine) in a nonsmoker’s blood, saliva, or urine (1). Nicotine, cotinine, carbon monoxide, and other smoke-related chemicals have been found in the body fluids of nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke.

Does secondhand smoke contain harmful chemicals?

Yes. Among the more than 7,000 chemicals that have been identified in secondhand tobacco smoke, at least 250 are known to be harmful, for example, hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, and ammonia.

At least 69 of the toxic chemicals in secondhand tobacco smoke cause cancer (1, 5, 6). These include the following:

Arsenic
Benzene
Beryllium (a toxic metal)
1,3–Butadiene (a hazardous gas)
Cadmium
Chromium (a metallic element)
Ethylene oxide
Nickel (a metallic element)
Polonium-210 (a radioactive chemical element)
Vinyl chloride

Other toxic chemicals in secondhand smoke are suspected to cause cancer, including (1):

Formaldehyde
Benzo[α]pyrene
Toluene

Does exposure to secondhand smoke cause cancer?

Yes. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. National Toxicology Program, the U.S. Surgeon General, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer have all classified secondhand smoke as a known human carcinogen (a cancer-causing agent) (1, 3, 5, 7).

Inhaling secondhand smoke causes lung cancer in nonsmoking adults (4, 5). Approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths occur each year among adult nonsmokers in the United States as a result of exposure to secondhand smoke (2). The U.S. Surgeon General estimates that living with a smoker increases a nonsmoker’s chances of developing lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent (4).

What is a safe level of secondhand smoke?

There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Even low levels of secondhand smoke can be harmful. The only way to fully protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke is to completely eliminate smoking in indoor spaces. Separating smokers from nonsmokers, cleaning the air, and ventilating buildings cannot completely eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke (4).

What is being done to reduce nonsmokers’ exposure to secondhand smoke?

On the national level, several laws restricting smoking in public places have been passed. Federal law bans smoking on domestic airline flights, nearly all flights between the United States and foreign destinations, interstate buses, and most trains. Smoking is also banned in most federally owned buildings. The Pro-Children Act of 1994 prohibits smoking in facilities that routinely provide federally funded services to children.

Many state and local governments have passed laws prohibiting smoking in public facilities, such as schools, hospitals, airports, bus terminals, parks, and beaches, as well as private workplaces, including restaurants and bars. Some states have passed laws regulating smoking in multiunit housing and cars. More than half of the states have enacted statewide bans on workplace smoking.

Internationally, a growing number of nations, including France, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, and Uruguay, require all workplaces, including bars and restaurants, to be smoke free.

Grade 9 Summarizing CCSS: CCRA.R.5, RI.9-10.5

Which section summarizes the arguments in other sections?

What is secondhand smoke?
Did you know secondhand smoke kills?
Does secondhand smoke contain harmful chemicals?
Key points

Question Info

Summarizing Question

Grade 9 Summarizing CCSS: CCRA.R.5, RI.9-10.5