Secondhand Smoke

Secondhand smoke (SHS) is deadly. The California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) considers it a toxic substance.

Cal/EPA found several health problems linked to SHS exposure:

• low birth weight;
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome;
• asthma;
• cancer (lung, breast, cervical);
• heart disease.

SHS has two main sources:

• smoke from the end of a lit cigarette (aka sidestream smoke);
• smoke exhaled by the person smoking.

It is known by two other names:

• passive smoking (used more often in Europe);
• environmental tobacco smoke (used more frequently by researchers and the only term used by the tobacco industry).

Several factsheets about the consequences of secondhand smoke were developed for National Non-smoking Week in 2006.

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