Dangers of Passive Smoking
Passive smoking, also known as secondhand smoking, involves inhaling the toxics that occur when others smoke. Environmental Tobacco Smoke is very harmful and puts people who breath it in, at risk for lung disease and various breathing conditions such as bronchitis or asthma. It is believed that more than 3000 people die each year from lung cancer caused by passive smoking.
Many people who smoke, believe that opening up a window while smoking a cigarette, is sufficient to clear the air. However, studies have shown that smoke and it’s related toxins, stays in the air for over two hours even after the cigarette has been extinguished. Thousands of children develop asthma due to passive smoking.
People who live with individuals who smoke are at greater risk for meningitis, chest infections, crib death and asthma. For this reason, health professionals believe that all smoking should be banned indoors, including one’s home. Passive smoking is especially dangerous to children, because they have smaller lungs that are under developed.
Cigarettes have over 4,000 dangerous chemicals and poisons. Chief among them, are ammonia, arsenic, formaldehyde and DDT (an insecticide). Kids whose parents smoke 60-100 cigarettes a day, end up inhaling enough nicotine that is equal to 1.5 cigarettes a week.
A European study found that children of smokers have three times greater chance of getting lung cancer then children of parents who do not smoke.
Along with lung cancer, other diseases associated with passive smoking are naval sinus cavity cancer, bladder cancer, cervical cancer and breast cancer.
Some researchers purport that the effects of secondhand smoke are grossly exaggerated, but most health professionals strongly refute this. In fact they have found that secondhand smoke, not only affects the lungs of non smokers but also the heart. Research have found that there are between 30,000-60,000 people who die from heart disease brought on by secondhand smoke. Acute heart disease, shrinking of the carotid arteries and hardening of the arteries are all effects of passive smoking. It is also believed that long term exposure to passive smoking can increase the chance that a person has a heart attack two fold.
Passive smoking can be very dangerous for people who live with smokers. Individuals that inhale secondhand smoke, no matter their age, have an increased risk of suffering from or dying from smoke related illnesses. Poisoning those that one loves, should be reason enough to quit smoking, even if one isn’t motivated to quit smoking for their own health.
