Q: My daughter stopped smoking when she was pregnant, but, unfortunately, she went back to smoking after she delivered her baby. She never smokes in the house, which is good, but you can still smell it on her, and she sometimes smokes around her baby as does her husband. Can this affect the baby? Am I concerned for no reason?A: It is clear that babies can inhale and absorb particles and dangerous chemicals emitted by cigarettes from walls, carpeting, clothes, hair, skin and the air around them. In a recent study, it was found that babies of parents who smoked, but did so outside, had 50 times less cotinine in their bodies (a by-product of nicotine) than babies whose parents smoked around them. These rates, however, were still seven times higher than babies of parents who did not smoke. So clearly, babies are absorbing this chemical, and this is coming from hair and clothing.
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