Secondhand smoke can cause firsthand problems

BJC ACO wants you to know that breathing in the toxins in secondhand smoke can cause a variety of health problems, including lung cancer and asthma.

In fact, it’s nearly as bad as smoking itself. More than 4,000 chemicals make up the haze of secondhand smoke, including formaldehyde, arsenic, ammonia, carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide. The dangerous particles from secondhand smoke can linger in the air for hours.

Children and infants are especially at risk because they generally have higher breathing rates, and inhale greater quantities of secondhand smoke. A child who spends just one hour in a very smoky room is inhaling as many dangerous chemicals as if he or she smoked 10 or more cigarettes.

Don’t allow smoking inside your home or car, and patronize businesses with no-smoking policies.