The problem with smoking is that smokers do not only put themselves at risk but also the people around them. The smoke that is exhaled from a smoker or trails off from the tip of the cigarette is called environmental smoke, and breathing in these fumes is known as passive smoking or second hand smoking

Unfortunately, environmental smoking also exposes non-smokers to the same toxic chemicals that smokers breathe in directly. You’ve probably heard people saying that passive smoke like this is worse that smoking itself, and looking at the chemical make up of the two separately, it probably is. The fumes from the tip of a cigarette is unfiltered, thus containing finer particles that can be lodged deeper in the lungs of a non-smoker. Needless to say, the more people inhale passive smoke the higher their health risk.

In 1998, 128 in Australia died from passive smoking alone. Non-smokers who live with a smokers are also at a 30% increased risk of developing lung cancer compared to those living with non-smokers. In Jan 1993, The US Environmental Protection Agency also concluded that wives of smokers had an increased risk of lung cancer and that passive smoke causes 3000 deaths a year from lung cancer in the US.

It gets worse when you realize that the people most affected by smoking are the children of smokers. The smoke particles that linger on their parent’s clothing and household items expose them to health risks. Children of smoking parents are found to:

• inhale the same amount of nicotine as that found in 150 cigarettes a year
• get more serious lung infections
• have more ear infections which are painful and cause deafness
• suffer life-threatening asthma. 46,000 children in Australia have asthma caused by second hand smoke
• 2 times more likely to be obese compared to children from non-smoking parents
• grow up shorter than average

There really is no justification for secondhand smoking, and in this day and age, you must remember to exercise your right not to be exposed to these fumes. Several non-smokers have won lawsuits against their workplace for exposing them to excessive smoke from cigarettes (bars, clubs). This has become such a hot topic in recent times that State governments around the world have headed down the path of implementing smoking restrictions in public places and this ban is only set to broaden its scope in the near future.