Secondhand smoke has been blamed for a variety of health problems, from asthma to heart disease. Now here’s something else to blame on it. According to a study by Richard S. Strauss, MD, associate professor of pediatrics at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, exposure to secondhand smoke, also known as passive smoke or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), may prevent children from properly absorbing vitamin C. The report was published in the March 2001 issue of Pediatrics.

In the study of 3,000 children ages 4 to 18, data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey was analyzed. Parents and adolescents were interviewed about smoking habits and a dietary history was taken to evaluate fruit consumption and multivitamin use. Parents provided information on nutritional intake for children 11 years of age and younger; children 12 and over provided their own intake. The researchers measured childrens’ blood levels of cotinine, a by-product of tobacco smoke. From this data, children were divided into categories of low and high ETS exposure.

Children who were exposed to the most ETS had the lowest levels of vitamin C, regardless of how much vitamin C they took in food and vitamins. Overall, children exposed to cigarette smoke had 20 percent less vitamin C in their blood than those who were not exposed.

The study refutes claims by the tobacco industry that ETS causes no damage. Vitamin C, an antioxidant, is known to protect against metabolic changes that can lead to heart disease. It also promotes growth and development. Cigarette smoke contains high levels of free radicals – compounds linked to disease and aging. Exposure to passive smoke could deplete the body’s supplies of antioxidants and negatively affect growth.

"The study provides further evidence that exposure to cigarette smoke is harmful to health – not that we need it," says Strauss.