When someone who is smoking exhales as well as the smoke that rises from an idle burning cigarette, pipe or cigar, it is called secondhand smoke. You may also hear it called environmental tobacco smoke or passive smoke. While you can usually see and smell smoke in the air, you can’t see the more than 4,000 chemicals including carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, benzene, chromium, nickel, vinyl chloride, and arsenic that are also in that air. More than 50 of these chemicals can cause cancers. They also cause asthma, heart disease and emphysema, ear infections and more - whether or not you are the person smoking or someone sharing the air with a smoker.
In the past few years much work has been done to promote tobacco-free living to protect all citizens from the deadly affects of breathing secondhand smoke. Under the Smoke-Free Ontario Act smoking is banned in most public places and most recently in vehicles carrying children under 16 to protect our most vulnerable citizens.
Whether you smoke or live with someone who does, there are lots you can do to reduce the risks associated with breathing secondhand smoke.
Who is Affected by Secondhand Smoke?
Why Tobacco-Free Living is Important
Tips to Make Your Home Smoke Free
Tips to Make Your Vehicle Smoke Free
