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Passive smoking is when you are around
someone who is smoking and you breathe in the smoke which is coming
from their cigarette.
A burning cigarette is like a mini
chemical factory. The smoke released from it contains
thousands of toxic chemicals and many of these are known to cause
cancer.
The smoker only inhales a small
amount of the smoke (15%) - the rest of the smoke from the cigarette
goes into the surrounding air (85%) for the rest of us to breathe
in!
Passive smoking bothers many people
and may make them suffer from coughs, sneezing, sore throats, red
and running eyes, a runny nose, sneezing, nausea, dizziness or
headaches. The smell of cigarette smoke also clings to
clothes, hair, furniture and makes them stink!
- In the U.K., exposure to second-hand
smoke (passive
smoking) causes over 3,000 deaths annually from lung
cancer, heart disease and stroke combined.
- Non-smokers exposed to passive
smoking in everyday life have a higher risk of heart attacks.
- Young people of parents who
smoke inhale nicotine in amounts the same as if they were
smoking 60-150 cigarettes per year.
- Almost half of all young people
in the U.K. live in homes with at least one smoker.
What can you do?
You have a right to breathe clean air. Ask smokers not to
smoke near you, especially when you are indoors or in a car.
Put no smoking signs up in your
home or room or family car. Remind smokers that smoking is not
only bad for them but harms other people as well.
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