No need to be a smoker to suffer from the harmful effects of tobacco smoke.
It is toxic for everyone: not just for the people who smoke, but also for those who breathe the smoke that enters the environment. Second-hand smoke consists of the smoke from a burning cigarette, cigar or pipe, and the smoker's exhalations. Two thirds of the smoke from a cigarette enters the environment.
Here are 10 reasons to eliminate smoke from your home and car:
- Regular exposure to second-hand smoke increases the risk of sudden infant death among babies and respiratory problems such as asthma, bronchitis and bronchiolitis among children.
- Second-hand smoke goes everywhere: it can even get to children who are sleeping or playing behind closed doors.
- Second-hand smoke contains at least twice as much tar, carbon monoxide and nicotine, six times more formaldehyde and 40 times more ammonia as smoke inhaled directly by the smoker.
- Second-hand smoke contains at least twice as much tar, carbon monoxide and nicotine, six times more formaldehyde and 40 times more ammonia as smoke inhaled directly by the smoker.
- Second-hand smoke is particularly harmful to the health of children because they breathe more rapidly than adults do and therefore absorb more of the dangerous chemical substances.
- Smoking in an enclosed area, such as a closed room or a car, greatly increases the concentration of toxic chemical substances in second-hand smoke.
- Regular exposure to second-hand smoke significantly increases the risk of pulmonary disease and heart disease.
- Every year, tobacco smoke kills over 800 non-smokers in Canada. In Quebec, an estimated 63 non-smokers die from lung cancer related to breathing tobacco smoke, and 145 others die from heart disease related to second-hand smoke.
- One in five deaths is the result of fires caused by cigarettes. This is why home insurance premiums can increase when people smoke.
- The toxins in second-hand smoke remain in furniture, carpets, clothing, dust, toys and more for days - even weeks - after someone has smoked.
Oven fan, open windows… they do not work!
Air ventilation systems, oven fans, air purifiers, open windows (in the car or home) cannot effectively eliminate all tobacco smoke. The strategy of reserving a room of the house for smoking is not effective either. Even if the door to this “smoking room” is closed, the second-hand smoke still spreads to the rest of the house through the cracks under the doors, the openings for plumbing and electrical cables, and the heating and air conditioning ducts.
The only way to protect others from second-hand smoke is to take it outside, ensuring that the smoke does not get inside, especially through open windows in summer. If it seems possible that the smoke could get inside, the smoking needs to happen further away from the house.
