二手菸/三手煙對嬰幼兒的危害
THE DANGERS OF PASSIVE exposure to tobacco smoke, when a person isn't smoking but someone else is, are well-documented. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, since the mid-1960s, an estimated 2.5 million nonsmokers have died as a result of health problems caused by secondhand smoke - which can range from lung cancer to heart disease.
當一個人不吸菸但其他人卻在吸菸的時候，被動接觸菸草的危害很明顯。據疾病預防控制中心表示，自20世界60年代中期，預估有250萬不吸菸的人因二手菸造成的健康問題離世--包括肺癌和心臟病。More recently, data increasingly suggests that thirdhand smoke - residual nicotine and other toxic chemicals from tobacco smoke that collect on surfaces, from carpet, furniture and curtains to a person's clothing - also pose a danger. Although the potential impact of thirdhand smoke is still being teased out, experts worry especially about those who cling most closely to surfaces: very young children, including babies and toddlers, who snuggle parents and crawl on the floor and frequently put their hands in their mouths. Residues from smoking like nicotine can remain on surfaces for weeks, months or years, and besides being accidentally ingested, can also be absorbed through the skin.
近來，越來越多的數據表明：三手煙--菸民"吞雲吐霧"後殘留在地毯、傢俱、窗簾以及衣服等表面的尼古丁和其它有毒化學物--也會帶來危害。儘管有人會戲謔三手煙帶來的潛在影響，但專家尤爲擔心最靠近這些物體表面的人：年幼的孩子，包括嬰兒和蹣跚學步的幼兒，他們經常在父母身旁依偎着、在地板上爬着、經常將手指伸進嘴裏。尼古丁等香菸殘留物停留在物體表面的時間或達數週、數月或好幾年，這些殘留物除了被意外吸入外，還會被人們的皮膚吸收。Taken together, experts say environmental exposures pose a serious risk for all but especially for young children in households where parents smoke. And there's also concern about tobacco smoke exposure in places where smoking has occurred - like a residence a family just moved into - and when caretakers regularly encounter it outside the home, like at a smoky workplace, and bring it home with them on their clothes. Experts say no one, young or old, is immune to the dangers of passive exposure to tobacco smoke, and that parents should be especially careful around babies and toddlers.
鑑於此，專家表示，如果家裏的父母吸菸，那這種環境會對所有人尤其是幼兒帶來嚴重風險。同時有人擔心，如若某個地方之前有人吸菸（一家人剛搬進的房子）或是幼兒看護經常在屋外碰到吸菸者（比如煙霧繚繞的工作場所），那回家時，他們的衣服上就會沾染菸草。專家表示，無論是年輕人還是老年人都會受到被動接觸菸草的危害，而家長更應關心嬰兒和幼兒的被動接觸。
Dr. Harold Farber, a pediatric pulmonologist at Texas Children's Hospital, says he can sometimes smell tobacco smoke coming off parents' clothes, though certainly they haven't been smoking in the exam room. "I can feel the nose and eye irritation just from the smoke that's coming off of their clothes - and I'm halfway across the room," says Farber, also an associate professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. "One can only imagine what's happening to a baby being held right next to them."
德克薩斯兒童醫院的兒科肺病專家哈羅德·法伯醫生說，雖然他確定家長沒有在檢查室吸菸，但他有時候還是能聞到家長衣服上的菸草味道。"他們衣服上的菸草會讓我的鼻子和眼睛受到刺激--而我離他們有一半屋子之遠，"法伯說道，他還是貝爾醫學院兒科學的副教授。"可想而知，離他們那麼近的兒童又正在遭受着什麼。"
