Self Help

Even people who don’t smoke are often exposed to other people who smoke. Inhaling someone else’s cigarette smoke is called passive smoking or involuntary smoking. It is a proven health hazard to nonsmokers, and it’s not easy to avoid, because about one in four people smoke. Did you know that secondhand smoke - the smoke breathed out by smokers and the smoke from the burning end of a cigarette, cigar, or pipe - has twice as much nicotine, and five times the carbon monoxide, as the smoke you inhale?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lists secondhand smoke as a Group A carcinogen, a rating used only for substances proven to cause cancer in humans. In fact, the risk of lung cancer is about 30 percent higher for non-smoking wives of smokers than it is for nonsmoking wives of nonsmokers.

The health effects of second-hand smoke are controversial. Estimates range from about 5,000 to about 60,000 deaths a year - many fewer than the 400,000 attributed to regular smoking, but still far too many. Exposure to secondhand smoke can cause nonsmokers to
cough, sneeze, and suffer eye irritations.

Secondhand Smoke and Children

Secondhand smoke poses special dangers to children. Well-documented research has shown that: (1) Babies of smokers are more prone to pneumonia and bronchitis in the first year of life than are babies of nonsmokers, (2) Children who breathe secondhand smoke have more ear infections, pneumonia, bronchitis, and lung diseases, and are more likely to develop asthma and, (3) Smoke in the home can worsen symptoms in asthmatic children and even trigger asthmatic attacks in young and adult nonsmokers. Studies have also shown that children of smokers are more likely to start smoking themselves than are children of non-smokers.

Why Do So Many People Ignore These Risks?

Why do people discount so many of the well-known smoking risks? For one thing, almost every smoker has an Uncle Pete or Aunt Jane who “smoked like a chimney” and still lived to a ripe old age. Focusing on the exceptions makes it easier to forget that about half of all regular cigarette smokers will eventually be killed as a result of this habit. And even though Pete and Jane looked healthy, they had unseen damage to the delicate tissues in the throat, lungs, and other organs.

Think back: they did cough a lot didn’t they? In addition, they may have had a lot of other problems that no one ever thought were related to smoking - such as heart disease, diabetic complications, stroke, and even impotence. So, if you have the gene pool that’s going to let you live to a ripe old age like Uncle Peter or Aunt Jane, why not live to a hearty ripe old age - far more feasible if you’ve quit smoking.