Emma's friend Megan lights up a cigarette every
chance she gets — while she's cruising around with their friends on
Friday nights, during breaks at the pizza place, before soccer
scrimmages, even as she babysits her brother. Emma's worried — both for
her friend's health and for her own. She's not sure Megan realizes how
her habit could be affecting the health of the people she smokes around.

Everyone knows smoking is a bad idea. And by now you've probably
heard that breathing in someone else's secondhand smoke is also
hazardous to your health.

What Is Secondhand Smoke?



Secondhand smoke comes from both the smoke that smokers exhale
(called mainstream smoke) and the smoke floating from the end of the
cigarette, cigar, or pipe (called sidestream smoke).

It may seem pretty harmless, but secondhand smoke actually contains
thousands of chemicals — from arsenic and ammonia to hydrogen cyanide —
many of which have been proven to be toxic or to cause cancer (called
carcinogens). High concentrations of many of these chemicals are found
in secondhand smoke. In fact, secondhand smoke significantly increases a
person's risk for:

• respiratory infections (like bronchitis and pneumonia)
  
• asthma (secondhand smoke is a risk factor for the development of asthma and can trigger attacks in those who already have it)
  
• coughing, sore throats, sniffling, and sneezing
  
• cancer
  
• heart disease
  

So secondhand smoke doesn't just impact a person in the future. It
can cause problems right now, like affecting someone's sports
performance or ability to be physically active.Continue

What Can You Do?



Chances are, you know someone who smokes. Maybe it's your Grandma or
the guy you hang out with at your job at the mall. Whether you smoke or
you're regularly around someone who does, it's never healthy to breathe
in tobacco smoke. Even occasional or short-term exposure can take a toll
on the body.

If you smoke, try to quit. Quitting isn't easy because smoking is
highly addictive. But plenty of programs and people can help you make
the brave effort to becoming smoke free. And just consider the benefits:
You'll look, feel, and smell better, not to mention you'll have more
money saved to go out and show off the newer, healthier you! Who knows —
maybe knowing that you're protecting the people you love by quitting
will help give you even more willpower to kick the habit.

If you don't smoke, ask the smokers you know to observe these two practical habits:

1. Take all their smoke breaks outside — away from
   other people, especially kids and anyone who's pregnant. Smoke lingers
   in the air hours after cigarettes are put out. That means if a smoker is
   puffing away anywhere inside, other people are inhaling that smoke,
   too. Because smoke sticks to people and their clothing, when smokers
   come back inside, they should wash their hands and change their
   clothing, especially before holding or hugging children.
   
2. Never smoke in a car with other people. Even exhaling out the window does little, if anything, to reduce smoke exposure.
   

It's been scientifically proven that secondhand smoke is dangerous.
So, hopefully the smokers in your life will be willing to take these
simple steps.

Just as a person who smokes chooses to light up, nonsmokers have a
choice, too — to walk away from other people's smoke at home, school,
work, restaurants, even friends' and family members' houses. New laws
are making it easier all the time for nonsmokers to lead smoke-free
lives.

Taking a stand on secondhand smoke will keep you much healthier and
possibly even help someone you love think twice about their own
unhealthy habit, too.

Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD
Date reviewed: November 2009