Facts About Secondhand Smoking

Tobacco-related diseases are considered the biggest killers in today's world. Over 500,000 people die every year in the United States due to smoking-related diseases. Apart from this, every year, around 40,000 to 65,000 deaths are caused by secondhand or passive smoking. What is secondhand smoking? Is it harmful enough to cause death, even in people who have never smoked in their life? Let us find out the answers in the following paragraphs.

Secondhand smoking is the involuntary inhalation of secondhand smoke from tobacco products. Secondhand smoke is classified into two types - mainstream and sidestream. Mainstream smoke means the smoke inhaled and exhaled by the smoker and the sidestream smoke consists of smoke released from end of the lit cigarette. Secondhand smoke, otherwise known as passive or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), diffuses in the surrounding air, which is inhaled by people in the vicinity. This process is called secondhand or passive smoking.

People were unaware of the harms caused by secondhand smoking, till the latter half of the twentieth century. Even though the first anti-smoking campaign started in the 1920s, the studies and debates regarding health risks from secondhand smoke gained momentum only during the 1970s. The awareness about health risks associated with such smoke lead to smoking bans in public places in many countries. The following are the diseases caused by frequent or long-term exposure to secondhand smoke:

• Exposure to secondhand smoke is one of the main causes of cancer. The risk of developing lung cancer, breast cancer and renal cell carcinoma is found to be higher in people, who are exposed to this smoke on a regular basis.
• It is directly linked to the risk of heart diseases, like reduced heart rate variability, higher heart rate and atherosclerosis.
• Increased risk of asthma, bronchitis and ear infections.
• It can cause cognitive impairment and dementia in people above the age of 50.
• In case of pregnant women, there are chances of premature birth or newborns with abnormally low birth weight. It is also suggested that secondhand smoke can cause sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Apart from these diseases, it can worsen asthma, allergies, lung infections and tuberculosis. It can also cause tooth decay in children.

According to some studies, second smoke is carcinogenic and both non smokers and smokers are exposed to the same carcinogens. It is also proved that secondhand smoke contains around 4,000 chemicals, including 69 carcinogens like lead, formaldehyde, benzene, arsenic, and radioactive polonium-210. Secondhand smoke contains more nicotine, carbon monoxide and tar, as compared to the smoke inhaled directly from cigarettes. Exposure to this smoke for a small period of around 10 minutes, can affect the cardiovascular system, which in turn affects the heart rate and the blood pressure.

Secondhand smoke has been categorized as the third leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States. Many countries have enacted legislation to ban smoking in workplaces and public places, but individual effort is necessary to tackle this problem. It is important to make people aware of the health risks associated with smoking and secondhand smoking. Let us all try to spread this awareness and make the world a better place to live in.