Secondhand smoke is another name for Environmental Tobacco Smoke(ETS). It is made of two types of smoke, mainstream and sidestream. Mainstream is smoke the smoker exhales and inhales. Sidestream smoke is smoke directly from the cigarette. It is a mixture of poisonous gases, liquids and little particles that we breathe in.

Secondhand smoke affects everyone, including unborn babies. They are affected when the mother smokes, or when the mother is in a very smoky area. The nicotine gets into the mother’s blood and that is what affects the baby. It speeds up the heartbeat of the unborn baby. Also, it slows the growth of the lungs and breathing ways.

Of the 4.7 million children under 12 in Canada, approximately 1.2 million live with a person who smokes daily. 800 000 of these children are exposed to secondhand smoke regularly. Secondhand smoke is very harmful to children’s health in many ways. It can cause things such as bronchitis, pneumonia, ear infections, coughing and wheezing more often than in other children with non-smoking parents. Scientists think sometimes Sudden Infant Death Syndrome may be caused because of secondhand smoke also. Secondhand smoke increases the number of asthma attacks and trips to the hospital every year. Over awhile children may not be able to take in oxygen as well, get lung cancer and suffer heart disease and strokes. Children have a 200% increased chance of getting cancer, 75% increased chance of getting asthma and 22% increased chance of getting brain tumours. Children with smoking moms have the highest risks of these health effects.

Kids and teens exposed to even small amounts of second hand smoke score : lower on tests of reading, reasoning and math. Scientists are not sure why, but maybe because smoke can change the nervous system. Also, maybe because it takes the oxygen away that our brain needs to function well. In teenagers ages 15 - 19, there are more female smokers than male. Hanging around with smoking friends is one way that you can be exposed to secondhand smoke.

Secondhand smoke causes a variety of different things. Short-term effects of secondhand smoke include eye irritation, headaches, sneezing, nose discomfort, coughing, sore throat, nausea, dizziness and increased risk for heart disease, asthma and allergies. Long terms effects include lung cancer, heart disease, heart stroke, child asthma, breathing difficulties, and reduced ability to take in and use oxygen.

When people smoke, they send out the same 4000 chemicals into the air that smokers inhale, but in a greater amount. 50 of these chemicals can cause cancer. Two times more tar and five times for carbon monoxide are released into the air than what the smoker actually inhales. Tar is what clogs the breathing ways and carbon monoxide takes oxygen out of the blood. Secondhand smoke is even more dangerous than inhaled smoke.