Complete Guide to Passive Smoking

What is passive smoking?

When the tobacco burns, the main and additional smoke streams are formed, which is exhaled by the smoker during the smoking process. This smoke contains more than 250 toxic chemicals that cause cancer. Among them, formaldehyde, benzene, vinyl chloride, arsenic, ammonia and hydrogen cyanide. Smoke inhaled by non-smokers is considered an environmental (external, ambient) tobacco smoke.

The effects of tobacco smoke on surrounding people are called passive smoking. It is very difficult to avoid passive smoking because one in five people smokes. The next article will tell how much tobacco smoke is harmful to you and your family.

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Negative effects of Passive Smoking

• Every year, 3,400 passive smokers die from lung cancer.


• Tobacco smoke irritates the mucous eyes, nose and throat.


• Tobacco smoke provokes coughing, shortness of breath and extraneous noise in the lungs.


• Every year 46,000 passive smokers (from 22,700 to 69,600) die from heart disease.

Passive smoking is especially dangerous for children:

• Children who inhale tobacco smoke are more prone to pneumonia, bronchitis and other pulmonary diseases.


• Children who passively inhale tobacco smoke, often suffer from inflammation of the middle ear.


• Tobacco smoke often provokes asthma attacks in children.


• Syndrome of sudden infant death is observed more in children born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy or were surrounded by people after birth.


• Experts estimate that 79,000 children with a middle ear infection and 202,000 with asthma attacks as a result of passive smoking turned to the hospital for help.

How can you protect yourself and children from passive smoking?

Using the following recommendations, you can protect yourself and the family from secondhand smoke:

• Do not smoke at home.


• Ask others not to smoke in your home, especially nannies or anyone who can look after the child.


• Be with the child only in those places where smoking of tobacco products is forbidden.


• Ask the smoker to go outside during the process.


• Teach children to stay away from smoking people.


• Support those who try to quit smoking.

What if you smoke yourself?

• Never smoke in the presence of children. Children are particularly susceptible to the negative effects of tobacco smoke.


• Smoke only on the street, away from children.


• Harmful chemicals remain in the air for a long time, even if you have already smoked.

How to protect yourself and family members from exposure to tobacco smoke outside the home?

• Explain to friends or employees that you do not like when they smoke in front of your family.


• Do not let others smoke in the car.


• Attend restaurants or bars where smoking is prohibited, and thank them for it.


• Make sure that in the institution where your child is, do not smoke.


• Ask your management to take security measures for those who do not smoke.

Stop smoking for yourself and your loved ones.

Passive smoking harms the health of pets

According to the poll, smokers agree to refuse to use tobacco products to protect their pets from tobacco smoke.

Researchers led by Sharon M.Milbergeg, Henry Ford Health Sciences doctor in Detroit, USA, concluded that 28.4% of smokers who participated in the online survey reported that information on the dangers of second-hand smoke to pets stimulates them to abandon this bad habit.

Of the 3,300 people registered in the online survey as pet owners:

• 66% - owners of dogs;


• 53% - cats;


• 10% are birds.

Of them:

• 16% of non-smoking owners of animals living in the same territory with smokers reported that they will talk about quitting smoking with their partners in order to protect pets from cigarette smoke.


• 24% have written that they will ask their partners to smoke outside the house.


• 40% of smokers and 24% of non-smokers who live in the same territory with smokers expressed a desire to get acquainted with information about the dangers of second-hand smoke and ways to stop this harmful habit.

Researchers argue that the goal of public health companies is to convince smokers that cigarette smoke harms health, both to people and to pets.

Passive smoking leads to cancers in dogs and cats, allergies in dogs, eye, skin and respiratory diseases in birds.

"This new kind of motivation will primarily affect lonely people who are attached to their pets," the scientists say.