Firsthand and Secondhand Smoke: Equally Deadly

Even if you aren’t a smoker, you may still be at risk for developing lung cancer from tobacco products. Why? Standing next to a person who is smoking a cigarette, cigar or pipe could be just as detrimental to your health as smoking them yourself.

Mainstream and sidestream smoke are produced when a tobacco product is smoked.

Mainstream smoke is drawn through the cigarette, cigar or pipe into the mouth, then down the windpipe and into the lungs. Cigarette smoke differs only slightly from that of cigars and pipes, because of the filters that smoke passes through theoretically remove some of the tar and nicotine from mainstream smoke. Upon exhaling smoke from their lungs, the smoker could potentially be exposing non-smokers near them to mainstream smoke.

Sidestream smoke is the main smoke produced by a burning cigarette, cigar or pipe—this makes up most of the smoke inhaled by a non-smoker (85% of smoke from a burning cigarette is sidestream). Because of the lower temperatures for combustion at the burning end of the cigarette, sidestream smoke is comprised of more carcinogenic chemicals than mainstream. The visible cloud of smoke is made up of is made up of particles, and the particles in sidestream smoke are much smaller than those of mainstream. Because of their tiny size, these particles stay airborne longer and go deeper into the lungs. Even the small benefit of the cigarette filter does not apply to sidestream smoke.

• The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency has classified second hand smoke as Group A. This level rating is used only in cases of proven cancer-causing substances.
• Thousands of people die annually from conditions cause by second hand smoke—3,000 lung cancer deaths; 35,000 to 62,000 cardiovascular disease deaths; and 2,300 deaths from SIDS.
• Lung cancer may be only one of the types of cancer caused by smoke—evidence is leading doctors to conclude that smoking may cause breast and liver cancers.
• Severe health complications beset babies with smoking parents—within the first two years of life, these children will have a higher rate of lung diseases such as bronchitis and pneumonia. Even the rate of lung growth for babies exposed to smoke is slower and overall lung function at maturity is impaired. These setbacks in development could lead to increased susceptibility to lung disease as an adult.

1. Reduce the Risk of Smoking for Non-Smokers:
   Avoid smoking indoors (or in any other enclosed place—like your car, for example).
2. Ask others not to smoke inside your home (i.e. visiting relatives, baby sitters and other people who care for your children).
3. Request that smokers step outside before lighting up.
4. If for some reason smoking outside is not an option, have smokers use a single room to smoke in. Make sure that the door is closed—and it would also be a good idea to close off any vents that could spread smoke throughout the house. In this “smoking room, you can mount a window fan to blow the smoke out of the house.
5. Use free-standing Dynamic Air Cleaner Consoles inside “smoking rooms”, and use HEPA quality Dynamic Air Cleaner filters for your HVAC to ensure that the rest of the house remains as smoke-free as possible. Consider installing an Air Oasis In-Duct UV air purifier in duct work to rid the house of residual odors and fumes.
6. Be the one to encourage your smoking friend and family to quit. Check out HelpGuide.org for tips and information to better understand the addiction aspect of smoking (the more you know, the more you can help those you care about).