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What is Secondhand Smoke (SHS)?

Secondhand smoke is the combination of smoke, a person breathed out from the smoker and from the burning end of a cigarette. When someone smokes a cigarette, cigar, or pipe, most of the smoke moves out and not reach the smoker's lungs, leads to the inhalation of the smoke by people standing nearby. Although smoking is banned in public places many people are still exposed to smoke.

Secondhand smoke is also called environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). As per the research, Secondhand smoke contains more than 7,000 chemical compounds, at least 250 are known to cause many diseases and 70 compounds cause cancer.  SHS is a mixture of 2 forms of smoke that comes from burning tobacco.

• Mainstream smoke: The smoke inhaled and exhaled by a smoker.
• Sidestream smoke: Smoke comes from the burning cigarette, cigar, or pipe or burning tobacco in a hookah. This type of smoke has higher concentrations of nicotine and cancer-causing agents 

Effect of Secondhand Smoke on Health?

Secondhand smoke is not free from risk, even a little amount of exposure causes many health effects, as reported.  As smokers take in harmful chemicals like nicotine, while smoking, the same way non-smokers standing nearby to the smokers, takes in toxic chemicals and thus have many unhealthy side effects. 

As per the reports, those who are exposed to secondhand smoke have an increased risk of getting lung cancer and other cancers by 30 percent than others, who are non-exposed. Risk on heart and emphysema are also reported.   

The other related problems include getting sticky blood, which raises "bad" LDL cholesterol, and damages the lining of blood vessels, which increases the chance of heart attack or stroke. Several other health effects were also seen in children, who are exposed to secondhand smoke. 

Health Effects on Adults

• Heart disease- As per CDC, people who are a non-smoker but have secondhand exposure, will have immediate and harmful effects on heart and blood vessels and experience 25-30% increase in their risk of developing heart disease. It has also been reported that 34000 premature deaths from heart disease have been reported in the United States, who are exposed to SHS. 
• Stroke- Every year, more than 8,000 deaths from stroke due to secondhand smoke have been reported, which in turn also increase the risk of other illness. 
• Lung cancer- As per the reports, more than 7,300 deaths from lung cancer among people who are exposed to secondhand smoke than who do not smoke has been reported 

Health Effects on Children

Exposure to secondhand smoke causes multiple health problems in infants and young children, as their bodies are in a growing stage and they breathe at a faster rate than adults.

• Chronic cough
• Ear infections
• Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
• More severe and frequent asthma attacks
• More respiratory infections (such as bronchitis and pneumonia)

Who are at Risk of Secondhand Exposure?

• Industry workers: According to a survey, those working in industries of machinery or equipment repair or construction shows a high prevalence of workplace secondhand smoke exposure 
• Children: Reports shows a higher prevalence of secondhand smoke exposure at home than in adults. And the constant exposure leads to many health effects on kids. 
• Pregnant women: Secondhand smoke affects unborn children and their mothers. It lowers the amount of oxygen for the baby, which increases babies heartbeat and reduces the birth weight. Women may experience miscarriage, premature delivery or ectopic pregnancy, or stillbirth

How to Avoid Secondhand Smoke: The best way to avoid smoke exposure is to stay away from the areas where people smoke.  Many states and cities have banned smoking in public places, which lowers its side effects but doesn’t remove the risk for secondhand smoke exposure completely. To avoid such conditions, one should do things like: 

• Avoid being around people who are smoking
• Convince people around you to quit smoke or do not smoke in public areas.
• Keep home smoke-free, especially if you have children. Keeping them away from smoke help lower their chances of having respiratory infections, cancer, and many other serious problems.

The Bottom Line

Smoking is injurious to health and so injurious to those who are nearby smokers and taking their smoke inside, even if you are a non-smoker. Secondhand smoke, in the same way, causing lots of hazardous health problems, affecting everyone including adults, children’s and pregnant women. To avoid such effects, one should stay away from people who smoke and quit smoking. If feeling worse affect, visit doctors.