What are the effects of second hand smoke?

Answer 1

Because, when a smoker 'puffs' out the smoke from their cigarette, the harmful toxins stay present. So, in turn, when a child then breathes this in, they are breathing in all the bad stuff that was in the cigarette. This is also called passive smoking.

Answer 2

Effects listed as Health Concerns

A 2006 Surgeon General's report stated that secondhand smoking (also called involuntary or passive smoking) can kill, and it concluded that there is no amount of exposure to secondhand smoke that is safe.

Chemicals released in smoking include significant amounts of hydrogen cyanide, benzene, formaldehyde, and carbon monoxide. These are irritants to the respiratory system. Especially in children, these can lead to pneumonia, bronchitis, or aggravation of conditions such as Asthma. The contaminants in smoke can be linked to increased risk of cancer, lung disease, and Heart disease. Smoking or high exposure during pregnancy has been linked to increased risk of premature delivery, low birth weight, SIDS, mental retardation, learning problems, and attention deficit hyperactivity.

Although the incidence of illness directly related to secondhand smoke is statistically low, the high number of people exposed to it means that tens of thousands of individuals in the US will develop new or aggravated disease symptoms each year. This likely extends to hundreds of thousands worldwide.

Effects Disputed

The 1993 Environmental Protection Agencies linking health concerns to second hand smoke was thrown out by a district judge. The conclusion stated that "The studies showed that for any given nonsmoker, the lifetime risk of getting lung cancer remains small: 4 to 5 in 1000 ordinarily, and 6 to 7 in 1000 if he or she has been living with a smoking spouse."

BMJ did the longest most in depth study and concluded:

"The results do not support a causal relation between environmental tobacco smoke and tobacco related mortality, although they do not rule out a small effect. The association between exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and coronary heart disease and lung cancer may be considerably weaker than generally believed."

Answer 3

Second hand smoke affects non smokers because the smoke coming from the end of the cigarette is unfiltered and if he/she breaths this in it's like smoking. Now if the air the smoker is blowing out is filtered which means the chemicals within the cigarette has passed through the lungs and blow out with less chemical substance then when breathed in. Hope this helped

Answer 4

constant or prolonged exposure2 secondhand or passive smoking can gradually cause partial or total impairment of the cns(central nervous system), lung disorders such as bronchitis, pneumonia, tracheatitis(inflammation of the windpipe), lack of appetite and nausea due to stomach disorders, which inturn lead to lack of nutrition, dehydration and eventually decrease mental and physical inefficiency, nervousness, trembling and since tobacco is addictive, it can lead to eventual addiction of the child itself towards smoking and atlast the most feared of all...... cancers of lungs, windpipe or foodpipe. The damage control can be 4 the responsible parents2 keep the child away from smokers, let the child b aware of the evils of smoking(if the parent or the guardian feels the child is mature enugh2 understand it).. and do not get panicked if u feel the child is showing any symptoms of the disorders mentioned above.... and most importantly, dont let the child panic at any cost!!

Answer 5

It is JUST like smoking, only you get a small dose of the chemials. So, if you are every near a person smoking, walk away if you can, or walk near the person but in the other direction of the smoke.

Second hand smoke can be even more harmful than first hand (the person who is smoking) because they usually have a filter. Long term exposure to second hand smoke can lead lung cancer, increased risk for heart disease, and other diseases and illnesses associated with smoking. Also, for non smokers, it smells terrible and often causes them to cough or even feel nauseous. It's also extremely dangerous for others and inconsiderate because they have no choice but to breathe in all those deadly chemicals.

Answer 6

Second hand smoke affect you are the smoker himself. This is specially true when somebody is smoking in closed space. You repeatedly inhale the smoke and get the adverse effect of the same.

Answer 7

you still are breathing in the carcinogens exhaled in the second hand smoke