Second Hand Smoke
- Indoor Air Quality - Introduction
- Combustion Pollutants
- Household Products
- Second Hand Smoke
- Formaldehyde
- Mold
- Radon
- Resources
Second Hand Smoke
What is it?
A mixture of the smoke given off by the burning
end of a cigarette, pipe or cigar and the smoke
exhaled from the lungs of smokers. It is involuntarily
inhaled by nonsmokers and lingers in the air
hours after cigarettes have been extinguished.
Effects
Secondhand smoke can:
- Cause lung cancer in adults who do not smoke
- Cause asthma in children who have not previously exhibited symptoms
- Trigger asthma attacks and make asthma symptoms more severe
- Increase the risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
- Increase the risk of lower respiratory track infections, such as pneumonia and bronchitis in infants and children younger than 6 who are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke.
- Increase the risk for middle ear infections in children.
What You Can Do
- Do not smoke in your home and do not allow others to smoke in your home.
- If you have to smoke do it outside and at least 50 ft away from your house because smoke can still enter doors or windows even if they’re closed.
- Encourage expecting mothers to stop smoking while they are pregnant and breast feeding and support them by not smoking either.
- Quit smoking and encourage others to do the same.
- Start a Wellness Circle in your community.
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