The impact of smoking on others

Most smokers are aware that their smoke drifts around, and that other people breathe it in. If you smoke at home, in the car or at work, then whenever others are with you, they are breathing in your cigarette smoke.

This is what we call passive smoking.

Passive smoking occurs when you breathe in someone else’s cigarette smoke. Passive smoking is also known as second-hand smoking, involuntary smoking or exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS).

Cigarettes produce three types of smoke:

mainstream smoke - the smoke breathed in through the burning cigarette by the smoker
exhaled mainstream smoke -  the smoke breathed out by the smoker from their lungs
side stream smoke - the smoke which drifts from the end of a lit cigarette

Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) consists of exhaled mainstream smoke and side stream smoke. 

A wealth of scientific evidence now exists showing that the breathing of tobacco smoke polluted air by non-smokers can lead to serious harm, such as increased bronchitis, pneumonia and other chest illnesses in children, asthma, lung cancer and cardiovascular disease.  This is of course in addition to the well-known irritant effects of tobacco smoke to the eyes, nose, throat and airways passages.

Over the past decade, there have been numerous research reports that have found that passive smoking is linked to a number of illnesses.

The people who are most likely to be affected by other's tobacco smoke are those who spend the most time with them. That means they are probably the people you love most.

Children and passive smoking

If you smoke around children, they are more likely to get:

• bronchitis and other respiratory diseases
• pneunomia
• coughing and wheezing
• middle ear infections
• asthma

Smokers' children who are exposed to cigarette smoke are more likely to have asthma, have more serious asthma attacks, and recover more slowly when they happen.

There is also research suggesting that in some children, passive smoking may play a part in learning and language difficulties, and behavioural problems.

Research is also looking at the real possibility that children exposed to passive smoking may be at risk of developing heart disease and even breast cancer as adults.

Quit now, and protect those you love

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