Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Passive smoking
The lowdown on second hand smoking!
Only 15% of smoke from a cigarette is inhaled by the smoker. The other 85% goes directly into the air and is known as second hand smoke. Second hand smoke is a combination of: mainstream smoke, which is the smoke inhaled and then breathed out AND sidestream smoke, which is the smoke coming from the cigarette between puffs.
Sidestream smoke has more tar, nicotine, carbon monoxide and other chemicals that cause cancer than the smoke inhaled through the cigarette itself! All second-hand smoke contains cancer-causing chemicals! Passive smoking is the breathing in of the second-hand smoke produced by other people's cigarettes.
In the short-term
Exposure to passive smoke leads to immediate problems such as irritation of the nose, eyes or throat, coughs, nausea, dizziness and headaches.
In the long term
Consequences are much more serious- passive smoking contributes to the development of lung cancer, heart disease and stroke. And… As they grow older children are almost three times more likely to start smoking if their parents do.
Everyone at times is a passive smoker, and passive smoking is not just an annoyance, it's a health risk! So the next time one of your friends lights up in front of you, fire off these facts:
Secondhand smoke
can produce six times the pollution of a busy motorway when in a crowded room.
Secondhand smoke
kills about 3,000 nonsmokers each year from lung cancer
Secondhand smoke
causes wheezing, coughing, colds, earaches and asthma attacks.
Secondhand smoke
fills the air with many of the same poisons found in the air around toxic waste dumps.
Secondhand smoke
makes clothes and hair stink.
Content thanks to YouthHealthNE authors.
