You don’t need to smoke to be at risk for developing lung cancer from tobacco smoke. The smoke from someone else’s cigarette, cigar or pipe has just as much potential to affect your health in adverse ways.

The dangerous difference between mainstream and sidestream smoke:

Mainstream smoke is what a smoker draws through the cigarette, cigar or pipe when they smoke. In the case of cigarettes, the smoker inhales smoke that has passed through a filter, which is intended to remove some of the tar and nicotine from each drag of smoke. When a smoker exhales, a non-smoker is exposed to mainstream smoke that has already passed through the smoker's lungs.

Sidestream smoke makes up most of the smoke inhaled by non-smokers (85% of smoke produced by smoking a cigarette is sidestream). Sidestream smoke comes from the burning end of the cigarette, and because a lot of this combustion is at a lower temperature than mainstream smoke, more of the carcinogenic chemicals are released into the air. The particles of smoke that make up sidestream smoke are smaller than those of mainstream, and their tiny size allows them to stay airborne longer and go deeper into lungs. In addition to this, sidestream smoke does not have the slight benefit derived from the cigarette’s filter.

• Second hand smoke has been classified as a Group A carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency—this rating is only used for proven cancer-causing substances.
• Second hand smoke is responsible for killing thousands of people annually—3,000 lung cancer deaths, 35,000 to 62,000 cardiovascular disease deaths, and 2,300 deaths from SIDS.
• Studies suggest that there is a relationship between second hand smoke and other types of cancers besides lung cancer.
• Children and infants exposed to second hand smoke often suffer many severe health complications. In the first two years of life, babies of parents who smoke at home have a much higher rate of lung diseases such as bronchitis and pneumonia. A very critical observation is that children of parents who smoke have a slower rate of growth in lung function as the lung matures. It has been suggested that this may lead to increased susceptibility to developing lung disease in adult life.

Protect your loved ones:

1. Don’t smoke indoors (or your car, for that matter).
2. Ask others not to smoke in your home (i.e. visiting relatives, baby sitters and other people who care for your children).
3. Ask smokers to go outside to smoke.
4. If someone must smoke inside, have him/her smoke in only one room—open windows for ventilation and close the door. It would also be a good idea to close off any vents that could spread smoke throughout the house.
5. Place a free standing  Home Smoke Removal Air Cleaner in “smoking rooms”, and use a HEPA quality furnace filter for your HVAC system to ensure that the rest of the house remains as smoke-free as possible. Consider installing an Air Oasis Whole House UV air purifier in duct work to rid the house of residual odors and fumes.
6. Help smoking friends or family by encouraging them 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).