Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education

This report provides a comprehensive assessment of the effects of environmental tobacco smoke (secondhand smoke) as of mid-2005 produced by the California Air Resources Board and Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment as part of the process of identifying ETS as a toxic air contaminant.

Part A of the report includes information about the chemical composition of secondhand smoke and exposure of the public to secondhand smoke, including outdoor exposures.

Part B of the report includes information on the health effects of secondhand smoke and concludes that the following health effects are causally associated iwth ETS exposure:

Developmental Effects: Fetal growth: Low birth weight and decrease in birth weight, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), Pre-term Delivery

Respiratory Effects: Acute lower respiratory tract infections in children (e.g., bronchitis and pneumonia), Asthma induction and exacerbation in children and adults, Chronic respiratory symptoms in children, Eye and nasal irritation in adults, Middle ear infections in children,

Carcinogenic Effects: Lung cancer, Nasal sinus cancer, Breast cancer in younger, primarily premenopausal women

Cardiovascular Effects: Heart disease mortality, Acute and chronic coronary heart disease morbidity, Altered vascular properties

Part C: The public comments and responses are available in a separate report, available at http://repositories.cdlib.org/tc/surveys/CALEPA2005C/