Statistics

Statistics about Tobacco Use

• Worldwide, tobacco use causes nearly 5 million deaths per year.¹
• Current trends show that tobacco use will cause more than 10 million deaths annually by 2020.¹
• Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States.²
• In the United States, cigarette smoking is responsible for about one in five deaths annually, or about 438,000 deaths per year.³
• An estimated 38,000 of these deaths are the result of secondhand smoke exposure.³
• On average, smokers die 13 to 14 years earlier than nonsmokers.²
• For every person who dies of a smoking-related disease, 20 more people suffer with at least one serious illness from smoking.⁴
• Cigarette smoking increases the length of time that people live with a disability by about 2 years.⁵

Current estimates of secondhand smoke exposure

• Exposure to nicotine and secondhand smoke is measured by testing the saliva, urine or blood for the presence of a chemical called cotinine. Cotinine is a byproduct of nicotine metabolization, and tobacco is the only source of this marker.⁶
• From 1988-1991 to 2001-2002, the proportion of nonsmokers with detectable levels cotinine was halved (from 88% to 43%).⁷
• Over that same time period, cotinine levels in those who were exposed to secondhand smoke fell by 70%.⁷
• More than 126 million nonsmoking Americans continue to be exposed to secondhand smoke in homes, vehicles, workplaces and public places.⁶
• Most exposure to tobacco smoke occurs in homes and workplaces.⁶
• Almost 60% of U.S. children aged 3-11 years—or almost 22 million children—are exposed to secondhand smoke.⁶
• About 25% of children who are 3-11 years of age live with at least one smoker, compared to only about 7% of nonsmoking adults.⁶
• The California Environmental Protection Agency estimates that secondhand smoke exposure causes approximately 3,400 lung cancer deaths and 22,700-69,600 heart disease deaths annually among adult nonsmokers in the United States.⁸
• Each year in the United States, secondhand smoke exposure is responsible for 150,000-300,000 new cases of bronchitis and pneumonia in children aged less than 18 months. This results in 7,500-15,000 hospitalizations, annually.⁹

References

1. World Health Organization. The World Health Report 2002: Reducing Risks, Promoting Healthy Life.  Geneva: World Health Organization; 2002 [cited 2006 Sep 23]. Available from: http://www.who.int/whr/2002/en/index.html.
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Annual Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Economic Costs—United States, 1995–1999. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report [serial online]. 2002;51(14) [cited 2006 Sep 23]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5114a2.htm.
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Annual Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Productivity Losses—United States, 1997–2001. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report [serial online]. 2005;54 [cited 2006 Sep 23]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5425a1.htm.
4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cigarette Smoking-Attributable Morbidity—United States, 2000. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report [serial online]. 2003;52(35) [cited 2006 Sep 23]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5235a4.htm.
5. Nusselder WJ, Looman CWN, Marang-van de Mheen PJ, van de Mheen H, Mackenbachet JP. Smoking and the Compression of Morbidity. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 2000;54:566–74.
6. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, Georgia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Coordinating Center for Health Promotion, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2006 [cited 2006 Sep 27]. Available from: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/secondhandsmoke/report/.
7. Pirkle JL, Bernert JT, Caudill SP, Sosnoff CS, Pechacek TF. Trends in the Exposure of Nonsmokers in the U.S. Population to Secondhand Smoke: 1988–2002. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2006;114(6):853–858 [cited 2006 Sep 27].
8. California Environmental Protection Agency. Proposed Identification of Environmental Tobacco Smoke as a Toxic Air Contaminant. Final report, September 29, 2005, approved by Scientific Review Panel on June 24, 2005 [cited 2006 Sep 27]. Available from: http://www.arb.ca.gov/toxics/ets/ets.htm.
9. United States Environmental Protection Agency. Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking: Lung Cancer and Other Disorders.* Office of Research and Development, EPA/600/6-90/006F, Washington, D.C., December 1992 [cited 2006 Sep 27]. Available from: http://oaspub.epa.gov/eims/eimscomm.getfile?p_download_id=36793.

*Also published as: National Institutes of Health. National Cancer Institute. Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking: Lung Cancer and Other Disorders: The Report of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph Number 4. NIH Publication No. 93-3605, Washington, D.C., August 1993. Source: CDC