Tobacco smoke contains over 4000 chemicals – more than 100 of which are listed as poisonous and at least 50 of which are cancer causing.

Children breathe more rapidly than adults, and these chemicals easily pass into the lungs of children. Children who live in smoky atmospheres often inhale the equivalent of 100 or more cigarettes per year.

Because babies’ and young children’s lungs and bodies are still growing, they are even more affected by smoke than an older child or adult. Their immune systems are less well developed which makes them more likely to develop serious illnesses.