Is a Smoker in Your House Killing Your Dog?

Source: SC Psychological Enterprises Ltd.

Nearly everybody knows that smoking is bad for you and can cause diseases and damage to many organs of your body. Smoking increases the risk of heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, bladder cancer, stroke, and asthma. You don't have to be a smoker to suffer from tobacco smoke-related ailments. Merely sharing an environment with somebody who uses tobacco exposes you to second-hand smoke which is associated with some of the same risks. In the US, an estimated 60 million non-smoking adults and children are exposed to second-hand smoke daily. How many dogs living in those same environments are exposed to the same smoke and the same daily health risks? Your dog might well be one of them.

First-hand and Second-hand Smoke Exposure

There are three types of exposure to the effects of smoking. People who inhale the smoke of tobacco products take "first-hand" smoke into their lungs. When the smoke is exhaled, or diffused into the room by the burning end of the cigarette, cigar, or pipe it is called "second-hand" smoke, and individuals who breathe this smoke are subject to respiratory problems and increased risk of cancer, stroke, premature aging, and heart disease much like the smokers themselves.

According to the US Food and Drug Administration, one cigarette can contain almost 600 ingredients. When burned, that same cigarette releases over 7000 chemicals. Some of these chemicals are quite nasty and 93 are on the FDA's list of “harmful and potentially harmful constituents in tobacco products and tobacco smoke.” That lethal community of chemicals includes arsenic, benzene, carbon monoxide, nicotine, mercury, lead, and hydrogen cyanide—all of which are being sucked into the lungs of the people or pets that are breathing that first- or second-hand smoke.

Third-hand Smoke

Unfortunately, the harm doesn't stop with second-hand since there is also "third-hand" smoke. It is the residue from second-hand smoke that gets on clothing, furniture, carpets, and other things in the smoker's environment. This stale "smoke smell" is noticeable when entering a smoker's house. Some of those chemicals can get re-released later as you move around the environment and stir things up, but some hang on because they are sticky, oily, or waxy. No matter what their current form, they maintain their lethal attributes.

Third-hand smoke is important for this discussion because, like children, dogs spend most of their time on or near the floor. That's where the chemical residue of tobacco smoke tends to concentrate. Dogs and children can absorb these compounds through their skin, or inhale them as contaminated house dust and gases that are released back into the air. Dogs also get a dose of these chemicals when they lick or clean themselves, or even if they lick their owner's hair or skin, especially if the person is a smoker. That is because that person becomes another surface where third-hand smoke can accumulate.

What Are the Effects of This Smoke?

Research has begun in earnest in the last two decades showing the possible damage to dogs and cats. Early, small sample studies, suggested that, like people exposed to second and third-hand smoke, dogs in similar circumstances were more likely to get cancer. Furthermore, there was an indication that dogs who live with smokers may suffer from premature aging.

A pair of new studies by research teams headed by Debora Groppetti of the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences at the University of Milan explored the effects of nicotine from second- and third-hand smoke exposure in purebred dogs. They were looking at cotinine concentrations. Cotinine is the primary chemical that remains when nicotine is metabolized after being absorbed in some way. The studies by these investigators have shown that the cotinine concentrations are reliably much higher in dogs living in an environment containing a smoker. These concentrations show up in the dogs' blood, saliva, urine, hair, and even the seminal fluid of male dogs. The residue of this harmful chemical associated with smoking is showing up in this way suggests that a broad spectrum of a dog's bodily organs and functions may be negatively affected through exposure to tobacco smoke in the environment.

How Negative Are the Consequences?

Of course, just because a potentially harmful chemical is detected in dogs whose living space includes a smoker, does not necessarily mean that dogs will suffer from ill effects. However, a recent study demonstrates how harmful living in a smoker's environment can be for dogs. This study involved a team of researchers led by Purdue veterinarian Deborah Knapp. This particular investigation is notable because of the size of the sample and the duration of the investigation. The researchers tracked a cohort of 120 Scottish terriers over three years. The kind of bladder cancer that they were studying was "canine urothelial carcinoma," which is particularly nasty since it may initially respond favorably to treatment, but is ultimately lethal in most cases. They found that dogs exposed to cigarette smoke in their homes were six times more likely to develop this bladder cancer than those who lived in a smoke-free environment.

Taken together the research clearly shows that dogs exposed to second-hand and third-hand smoke in their living environment are at increased risk of suffering from life-shortening effects due to tobacco smoke. The systems at risk are many and the threats include respiratory difficulties, heart problems, premature aging, and a major increase in the likelihood of cancer.

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The obvious recommendation is that if you care about your dog you should adopt a no-smoking policy in your home. Even having occasional visitors who smoke in your residence is a problem because of the residual third-hand smoke. Third-hand smoke is difficult to remove. One study showed that even when smokers' homes were cleaned and prepared for sale, third-hand smoke was still present in the dust and on surfaces in the household several months after someone last smoked in the home. Declaring your residence a smoke-free zone is probably the best policy to adopt if you love your dog.

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