We’ve established that smoking is bad for your health and choosing to light a cigarette is detrimental, both in the short and long run. But what we don’t understand is that whether you light the cigarette for yourself or for someone else, it’s still doing you the damage! Don’t get what we’re talking about? Passive smoking! This one’s to shed light on the much talked about passive smoking and whether or not it’s as bad as active smoking. Passive smoking is the act of inhaling smoke that has been emitted from a cigarette and the lungs of someone else smoking the cigarette in the nearby area.
According to the 2014 Surgeon General’s Report, there have been more than 20 million smoking-related deaths in the U.S.A since 64’, 3 million of which have been of non-smokers or let’s say passive smokers. What happens when you smoke a cigarette is that two types of smokes are emitted. Now you’re probably thinking, ‘what crap, I see just one similar looking poof of smoke’. But the smoke can be differentiated as mainstream smoke, which is emitted from the smoker’s lungs, and side stream smoke which is emitted from the lit end of a cigarette, cigar or pipe.
Together, these two types are called second-hand smoke which is worse for non-smokers than the smokers themselves. The mainstream smoke isn’t as harmful, since it is inhaled after passing through a filter that removes impurities and most of the tar before going to the smoker’s lungs, where further chemicals and tar are absorbed. So when they’re exhaled, they’re barely harmful. But the side stream smoke, oh man that’s the real silent killer!
The tobacco being burned at the lit end, contains about 7,000 chemical compounds, 69 of which are carcinogenic. The side stream smoke is also almost 85% of the whole second hand smoke, which is a known human carcinogenic. The lit end of the cigarette or cigar has a much lower temperature of burning than the mainstream smoke, which is why more carcinogenic chemicals are released into the atmosphere, causing a huge risk of various health disorders with lung cancer being the most deadly one of the lot.
So we urge you, to cut down initially and then quit smoking if not for your sake, at least for your loved ones who are silently suffering without even knowing it. Smoking in public places is a big no no as well!
Stay safe and stay healthy!