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| SURGEON GENERAL'S REPORT |
What is Secondhand Smoke?
Secondhand smoke, also known as involuntary smoking or passive smoking, is a mixture of the smoke given off by the burning end of a cigarette, pipe, or cigar, and the smoke exhaled from the lungs of smokers. When a cigarette is burning on its own it burns at a lower rate causing incomplete combustion and dirtier smoke than the mainstream smoke a smoker inhales. Also secondhand smoke is not filtered like most cigarettes so none of the chemicals levels are reduced.
Secondhand Smoke Contains 4,000 Chemicals.
250 of these chemicals are poisonous, 43 have been shown to cause cancer, and a majority are respiratory irritants. Secondhand smoke has been classified as a Group A Carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency. This is a rating reserved for only the most potent cancer-causing agents such as benzene and arsenic; both of which are found in secondhand smoke.
What are the Dangers of Secondhand Smoke?
Exposure to secondhand smoke causes irritation of the eyes, nose and throat. It has also been shown to be responsible for irritation of the lungs, leading to coughing, excess phlegm, chest discomfort and reduced lung function.
Secondhand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death in the country, killing 53,000 nonsmokers in the U.S. each year. It has been shown to cause lung cancer, nasal cancer and heart disease in nonsmokers. For every eight smokers who die from using tobacco products, one nonsmoker is killed by secondhand smoke.
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