Effects of Passive Smoking

Passive smoking is also commonly known as inhaling secondhand smoke. This is the smoke you breathe in while standing near a friend, loved one or stranger who is puffing on a cigarette. It is the smoke you inhale walking through a city rife with smokers. Learn about how other peoples' addictions affect you. Find out what you can do about it.

Significance

While many cities, localities and even states have banned smoking in such places as bars and restaurants, this is not the case everywhere. If you frequent nightclubs and bars, dine with someone who wants to sit in the "Smoking" section, have a family member who smokes in the house or car, or walk downtown in most U.S. cites, you are passively smoking. The smoke emitted from a burning cigarette and from smokers' mouths contains literally thousands of harmful chemicals. Dozens of these chemicals, such as arsenic and lead, are known to cause cancer.

Effects

According to the National Cancer Institute, about three thousand non-smoking adults die of lung cancer every year due to passive smoking. Other types of cancer believed to be caused by secondhand smoke include breast cancer and nasal/sinus cancers in adults as well as leukemia, lymphoma and brain cancers in children. Other effects of passive smoking include increased asthma attacks, higher danger of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and an increased risks of arterial, lung and heart diseases.

Considerations

People living with a smoker have a twenty to thirty percent greater chance of getting lung cancer than non-smokers who don't. Employees who work at establishments that allow smoking are at an even greater risk for disease and illness. Studies have shown that secondhand smoke levels are as much as five times more than levels found in residences of smokers. People who work at jobs that expose them to these high levels of smoke are more likely to contract lung cancer, die of a heart attack, and suffer premature births or miscarriages.

Misconceptions

Although low-tar and roll your own cigarettes may be slightly less harmful to smokers than typical filtered cigarettes, they are still made from the same tobacco and still detrimental to the health of passive smokers. Contrary to popular belief, cigars are no safer than cigarettes, either. Not only do they have more tobacco, cigars burn longer than cigarettes. This means that they release even more toxins and, to top it off, the levels of carcinogens and other harmful chemicals in cigar smoke are higher in concentration than those in cigarette smoke.

Prevention/Solution

You might feel helpless to protect yourself and your family from passive smoking. However, there are several steps you can take. Do not allow anyone to smoke in your home. Establish an outside area at least ten feet away from doors where family members and guests can go to smoke. Never sit in the smoking section of a restaurant. Better still, try to frequent establishments that support a smoke-free environment. Contact your local and state government officials to let them know you support a public smoking ban.

Resources

• List of U. S. Smoking Bans by State