The heavy prices for second-hand smoke

The numbers of people who die of smoking-related illnesses rise every year around the world. This is mostly due to the potent nature of the nicotine compound that is present in tobacco and its other derivatives. Unsurprisingly, it is not only the smokers tend to contract the smoking- related diseases, but the passive smokers. The term ‘passive smoking’ or ‘second-hand smoke’ is used to refer to non-smokers who are passively inhaled the smoke exhaled by the smokers. In accordance with the British medical Journal, the damage the passive smoking does to non-smokers’ health is beyond imaginable.


To start with, passive smoking affects children’s health the most. Children of smokers tend to contract middle ear infections, coughing, respiratory complications and even death. Their chances of developing asthma are higher as well. This is because second hand smoke has far-reaching influences on unborn children.

Pregnant women who are chronic smokers or connect with smokers are likely to give birth to babies with respiratory problems. These babies’ overall health is lower than the average. Their weight may be low and their ability to learn and develop new skills is impaired.The World Health Organization reveals that over 4000 babies die of bronchitis and pneumonia each year because of second-hand smoke.


In Australia, some parents who avert their children to inhale the smoke from their cigarette by smoking outside the house.

Nonetheless, this activity (outdoor smoking) can still affect children indoor.

Dr Krassi Rumchev from Curtin University of Technology , says that respirable suspended particles, including nicotine, are found highly in smokers’ houses.Smokers seem to disperse pollutants into the home when come inside as they breathe out smoke and it pollutes the air. “Nicotine attaches to the hair and body, and pollutants are dispersed into the air off clothes, because small particles can attach to clothes", said Dr. Rumchey.

As a result, Children whose parents smoke outside home are exposed to levels of environmental tobacco smoke high enough to cause harm.

They are three times more likely to have respiratory illnesses including asthma, coughs, colds and runny nose than those in smoke-free homes. This environmental tobacco smoke further impacts the children under three as their lung and immune system still develop.About 8% of childhood asthma and 13% of major lower respiratory illnesses in Australian children are due to passive smoking.

In respect to the damage the second-hand smoke does to adult’s health, it is known that passive smokers may contract several smoking-related illnesses after associating with smoker for certain period.

First of all, they have 30 % of opportunity having heart attack and stroke. One medical study in US also has identified that passive smokers have the same risk of getting lung cancer as the smokers. According to the study, 20% of women in US who develop lung cancer have never smoked. (The hideous lungs on the right in the above picture are belonged to smokers)

Apart from that, Doctor Chengbo Wang, a magnetic resonance physicist at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, points out that second-hand smoke can trigger emphysema.

Dr.Wang uses MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) to scan the lungs of non-smokers who has lived with smokers for over 10 years. He discovers they have the same early signals of lung damage that causes emphysema as those found in smokers.

"We find that 57% of the smokers and 33% of the non-smokers with high exposure to second-hand smoke had signs of early lung damage as measured by the scan”, Dr Wand says.

Professor Thomas Houston of the Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Centre in Alabama states that smoke toxins could affect the pancreas, which makes the blood sugar regulator insulin.

He carries out an experiment in which he finds 17% of passive smokers develop the condition of type two diabetes.This proves that diabetes links to passive smoking.

"Passive smokers are exposed to toxins similar to those of active smokers, but some toxic substances are even more concentrated in passive smoke”, said Dr.Thomas.

Passive tobacco exposure in never smokers is likely to be a new risk factor for glucose intolerance.

People with asthma, especially children should avoid passive smoking as it would lead to an asthma attack and raise the frequency of it. Because the asthma strikes more often and grows more severe, people become more reliable on asthma medications that can narrow their airways and reduce their lungs functions.

At last, smoky bars and pubs should be the last places non-smokers consider visiting on the weekends. The cigarette smoke there not only makes the cloths and hair smell but also irritates the eyes and throat. Cardiac specialist, Dr, Jonny from Australia National University believes that second-hand cigarette smoke can diminish the amount of oxygen carried in our bloodstream, replacing it with carbon monoxide. Besides, it also influences our blood vessels, which are very sensitive to the toxins in cigarette smoke.

To conclude, passive smoking can shorten the lives of non-smokers. Heart attack, stroke, lung cancer, emphysema, asthma, diabetes, destruction of blood vessels are the common smoking-related illnesses. In general, after years of passive tobacco exposure, non-smokers particularly children and women are prone to develop one of these diseases as those of smokers. Therefore, many governments worldwide have established legislation that outlaws smoking in public places and public vehicles such as buses, trams and trains. Personally, I avoid making friends with smokers and would be very pissed off if people next to me in the pub or restaurant smoked. Normally, I would ask the waiter to change the table in this circumstance.

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