Jump to full article: National Institutes of Health (NIH), 2009-11-18
Intro: Also called: Environmental tobacco smoke, Passive smoking, Tobacco smoke pollution
You don't have to be a smoker for smoking to harm you. You can also have health problems from breathing in other people's smoke. Secondhand smoke is the combination of smoke that comes from the burning end of a cigarette, cigar or pipe and the smoke exhaled by the smoker. Secondhand smoke contains more than 50 substances that can cause cancer. Health effects of exposure to secondhand smoke include lung cancer, nasal sinus cancer, respiratory tract infections and heart disease.
There is no safe amount of secondhand smoke. Children, pregnant women, older people and people with heart or breathing problems should be especially careful.
National Cancer Institute
Start Here
* I Mind Very Much If You Smoke(National Cancer Institute)
* Secondhand Smoke: Questions and Answers(National Cancer Institute)
* Secondhand Smoke: What It Means to You(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dept. of Health and Human Services) - PDF
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