#SmokingKills : Inhaling Second Hand Smoke Is As Toxic And Lethal

Passive Smoking
Smoking Kills ! Image Used For Representation Only

WHO (World Health Organisation) reported that globally tobacco kills 60 lakh people each year, of which more over 6 lakh are non-smokers who die from inhaling second hand smoke!

What is Passive Smoking? According to World Health Organisation, “Involuntary or passive smoking is the exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke (SHS) which is a mixture of exhaled mainstream smoke and sidestream smoke released from a smouldering cigarette or other smoking devices (cigar, pipe, bidi, etc.) and diluted with ambient air.”

“Second-hand tobacco smoke is also referred to as “environmental” tobacco smoke (ETS). Involuntary smoking involves inhaling carcinogens and other toxic components that are present in second-hand tobacco smoke.”

While speaking to Pune365 Dr, Vaibhav Pandharkar, MBBS, DTCD, DNB (Respiratory Medicine), Consultant – Respiratory Medicine, Columbia Asia Hospital says, “Passive smoking is breathing in other people’s tobacco smoke.

Some experts have also confirmed that passive smoking is majorly responsible for lung cancers.

There are two types of passive smoking; One is mainstream smoke when you directly inhale their exhaled smoke and sidestream smoke is the smoke from a lit cigarette.

If an individual smokes inside the house, he creates a heavy indoor low-lying smoke cloud, which is also inhaled by the other family members.

That approximately contains 7000 chemicals which are formed from 50 different particles and gases which are highly plausible to cause cancer.

It also increases the risk of heart disease, nasal sinus cancer, throat cancer, larynx cancer, breast cancer, pulmonary diseases, lung irritation, long and short-term respiratory disease.

Passive smoking affects your blood vessels and regulates the blood flow and can also lower levels of antioxidant vitamins in the blood. This is why many smokers are now being encouraged to get a vape starter kit to try out vaping instead, as this is said to be less harmful on not only the smoker but also it prevents second hand smoke from being breathed in by others. If however you have a close relative or friend that continues to smoke and its something you are unable to avoid, then you need to be extra careful. Steps to Reduce/ Avoid Passive Smoking:

  • Make your environment smoke free
  • Explain to people the adverse effects of smoking
  • Avoid going to public places, from where it is difficult to move aside.
  • Ensure that children have a smoke free environment, in schools and when out with family
  • Create awareness among citizens for a smoke-free city.

While everyone is aware of the ill-effects of smoking, very few know that passive smoking can also be dangerous.

Gauri Hegde, Housewife says, The rule of no smoking in Public was introduced in 2008 and that is for a reason. it is not only smoking, but the gases released from the factories, and vehicles.Children are easy targets and they end up suffering from problems like asthma and lung irritation.

Also hazardous for pregnant women, due to negligence or lack of knowledge, Therefore, It is important to educate people on a timely basis about the hazardous effects of passive smoking, especially on how we can protect ourself, Gauri added.

There is no ban on smoking, so you’re liable to harm yourself the way you want, but don’t smoke in Public and harm us for your pleasure, says Sakshi Karve, Physiotherapist. It would definitely be better for people to smoke in the privacy of their own home, so that others aren’t in danger of inhaling second-hand smoke. So, if you would like an alternative way to smoke away from other people, you may wish to check out a bubbler pipe and see if this is something you would enjoy. Pratik Thakur, techie says,” There are various chemicals which are dangerous to inhale, yet, the hype is only about passive smoking.

Most of the places have banned smoking indoors and in such circumstances, people have no option other than smoking outside.

We don’t want to create health hazards to anyone just for the pleasure of smoking, but the least I could do is to avoid smoking in public. Arnav Mishra, Theatre artist says, Passive smoking is restricted to a particular atmosphere where the individual is smoking, while the air pollutants are all over the city.

The air pollution in the city is increasing rapidly, and comparatively, that does more damage to citizens.

As a smoker, we avoid public places and I do know to smoke responsibly, Arnav added. Most people recommend that if you are a smoker, you aim to quit as soon as possible. Not only will it help you improve your health, but also decrease the effect it is having on the people around you. For a lot of people, making the switch to vaping is one way to gradually give up smoking for good. Vaping involves using an e-cigarette to inhale vapors produced by e-liquids such as those in the Killer Kustard range. There are a mixture of different e-liquid flavours to suit all tastes. With products like vaping high strength nic salts and nicotine patches readily available, there will be a solution that will be best fitted to you. ~~ #The views expressed in this article are those of the individual respondents and Pune365 does not necessarily subscribe to them.

Ankita Malekar