• What is second-hand smoke?
• Why is it dangerous?
• How does second-hand smoke harm your health?
• How does second-hand smoke harm children?

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What is second-hand smoke?
Second-hand smoke, also known as Environmental Tobacco Smoke, includes the smoke that is exhaled when a cigarette is smoked, and the smoke that drifts into the air from the burning end of a cigarette.

Why is it dangerous?

• There are more than 4,000 chemicals in second-hand smoke, including benzene, formaldehyde, and arsenic; 69 of these can cause cancer.
• Smoke from the burning end of a cigarette has more harmful chemicals in it than the smoke inhaled directly by a smoker through a filtered cigarette.
• If you are in a place where people are smoking you will breathe in these harmful chemicals.
• Going into another room to avoid second-hand smoke will not protect you from all its harmful effects.
• Ventilation systems do not remove all the harmful chemicals found in second-hand smoke.

How does second-hand smoke harm your health?

• Each year thousands of Canadians die prematurely from exposure to second hand smoke
• Second-hand smoke is the third leading cause of lung cancer
• Exposure to second-hand smoke can increase your chance of developing nasal sinus cancer, breast cancer, and cervical cancer
• Second-hand smoke can also increase your risk of heart disease and stroke
• Breathing problems like emphysema, pneumonia, and bronchitis happen more often to people who breathe in second-hand smoke
• Second-hand smoke causes itchy eyes, runny nose, coughing, wheezing, sore throat, nausea, dizziness and headaches

How does second-hand smoke harm children?

• Infants exposed to second-hand smoke are more likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), also known as crib death.
• Infants and children who are exposed to second-hand smoke are at greater risk of developing pneumonia and bronchitis, and are more likely to need hospital care.
• Exposure to second-hand smoke puts children at greater risk of developing asthma.
• Children with asthma who are exposed to second-hand smoke have more attacks and the attacks can be more severe.
• Children exposed to second-hand smoke are at greater risk of developing fluid in the middle ear which may cause loss of hearing if not treated.

For a copy of this information download the PDF version of this document "How does the Smoke Know Where to Stop?" (PDF file size 110KB)

Last updated March 2010