By Kirsten Clancy

Though many people know the dangers of smoking directly, many underestimate the dangers of secondhand smoke, according to a UK HealthCare survey.

UK HealthCare and statewide community partners launched an educational program Thursday to bring secondhand smoke health risks to light.

Nearly 1.6 million Kentuckians do not understand the serious health risks involved in secondhand smoke, especially in children, according to the survey.

“There’s some value to the visibility,” said Dr. Tim Bricker, chairman of the Kentucky Children’s Hospital.

If more people knew the risks of smoking in front of children, they would be more careful, he said.

Secondhand smoke contains many of the same toxins that cause cancer in direct smoking, according to a brochure about secondhand smoke published by UK HealthCare.

Formaldehyde, which is used in embalming, and hydrogen cyanide, which is found in chemical weapons, are two such chemicals mentioned in the brochure.

Bricker said these pose risks to young children, such as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and wheezing.

Program directors have been talking to some tobacco users about the program, and many said that if they had known the risk they were posing to their children, they might have quit years ago.

“Kentucky parents are family-oriented and they wouldn’t intentionally put their children at harm,” Bricker said.

The program will include educational materials, a school-based education program, an interactive Web site, and radio and television public service announcements featuring UK head basketball coach John Calipari, according to a UK news release.

The program, which is coincidental to UK going tobacco-free in November, will also include health fairs, which will include a mini spirometer, a device that a person blows into to measure lung function, which will give clues to determine lung age, said Dr. David Mannino, a pulmonary physician.

Though the device is not good for use on children, Mannino said he has found many adults who are shocked by the results of the lung test. He said he once had a 30-year-old woman with the lung age of 80.

“She said, ‘Maybe I should quit smoking,’ ” Mannino said.

According to the information published by UK HealthCare, Kentucky has the third highest adult smoking rate in the U.S.; it also has the most adult deaths from smoking-related illnesses.

Bill Gombeski, director of marketing at the medical center, said the program will take an educational approach to informing people, rather than trying to scare them. The information published by UK HealthCare gives advice such as smoking outside and away from children.

“Fear doesn’t motivate people,” Gombeski said. “We don’t want them to quit, but that would be great. We want them to modify their behavior.”