For those of you who wonder what you friends and loved ones were breathing in when you were a smoker, read this from the Canadian Lung Association: “Second-hand smoke has over 4,000 chemicals; many of them cause cancer. Two thirds of the smoke from a cigarette is not inhaled by the smoker, but enters the air around the smoker. • Second-hand smoke has at least twice the amount of nicotine and tar as the smoke inhaled by the smoker • It has five times the amount of carbon monoxide, a deadly gas that robs the blood of oxygen • It contains nitrogen dioxide which is measured at fifty times higher than the standard for harm • Regular exposure to second-hand smoke increases the risk of lung disease by 25% and heart disease by 10%”
So the next time you feel the urge to smoke think about what it could be doing to those around.
The above was taken from: Canadian Lung Association (2008) Second Hand Smoke. Retrieved on May 7, 2009 from, http://www.lung.ca/protect-protegez/tobacco-tabagisme/second-secondaire/index_e.php
