

Smoking is also prohibited in most federal buildings by Executive Order 13058 of 1997. Federal law prohibits smoking on airline flights, interstate buses, and most trains. On the federal level, several policies restricting smoking in public places have been implemented. For help to quit see or call 1-877-44U-QUIT.ĭo electronic cigarettes emit secondhand smoke?
#World of goo second hand smoke free#
making sure the places where your children are cared for are tobacco free.
#World of goo second hand smoke windows#
not allowing anyone to smoke in your car, even with the windows down.Steps you can take to protect yourself and your family include: Opening windows, using fans and ventilation systems, and restricting smoking to certain rooms in the home or to certain times of the day does not eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke ( 3, 4). The only way to fully protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke is to eliminate smoking in indoor workplaces and public places and by creating smokefree policies for personal spaces, including multiunit residential housing. How can you protect yourself and your family from secondhand smoke? Even low levels of secondhand smoke can be harmful. There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Being exposed to secondhand smoke slows the growth of children’s lungs and can cause them to cough, wheeze, and feel breathless ( 3, 7, 10). Secondhand smoke exposure during pregnancy has been found to cause reduced fertility, pregnancy complications, and poor birth outcomes, including impaired lung development, low birth weight, and preterm delivery ( 11).Ĭhildren exposed to secondhand smoke are at increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome, ear infections, colds, pneumonia, bronchitis, and more severe asthma. Exposure to secondhand smoke also increases the risk of stroke by 20 to 30% ( 10). In the United States, secondhand smoke is estimated to cause nearly 34,000 heart disease deaths each year ( 10). It increases the risk of heart disease by about 25 to 30% ( 3). Exposure to secondhand smoke irritates the airways and has immediate harmful effects on a person’s heart and blood vessels. Secondhand smoke is associated with disease and premature death in nonsmoking adults and children ( 3, 7). How is secondhand smoke exposure measured? In the United States, most secondhand smoke comes from cigarettes, followed by pipes, cigars, and other smoked tobacco products. Exposure levels can also be high in enclosed public places where smoking is allowed, such as restaurants, bars, and casinos, resulting in substantial exposures for both workers and patrons ( 3).

Children and nonsmoking adults can also be exposed to secondhand smoke in vehicles, where levels of exposure can be high. The home is a particularly important source of exposure for infants and young children. Workplaces and homes are especially important sources of exposure because of the length of time people spend in these settings.


Major settings of exposure to secondhand smoke include workplaces, public places such as bars, restaurants and recreational settings, and homes ( 4). Secondhand smoke (sometimes called passive smoke, environmental tobacco smoke, or involuntary smoke) is a mixture of sidestream smoke (the smoke from the burning tip of a cigarette or other smoked tobacco product) and mainstream smoke (smoke exhaled by a smoker that is diluted by the surrounding air) ( 1– 3).
