In the UK, children breathing in other people’s cigarette smoke results in 300,000 GP visits and 9,500 hospital admissions for children every year.
Children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of second-hand smoke because they breathe more rapidly and have less developed airways, lungs and immune systems.
In the UK, it is illegal to smoke in vehicles with someone under 18 present. The driver and passenger could be fined £50.
Breathing in second-hand smoke increases a child’s or an adult’s risk of lung cancer by 24% and heart disease by 25%.
Second-hand smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, many of which are irritants, toxins and poisons including arsenic, benzene and cyanide. More than 50 are known carcinogens that can cause cancer.
More than 80% of second-hand smoke is invisible and odourless, so no matter how careful you think you’re being, your family still breathes in harmful poisons, putting them at risk of meningitis, cancer, bronchitis and pneumonia.
Second-hand smoke is the smoke exhaled by you, plus the smoke created by the lit end of a cigarette. People who breathe in second-hand smoke are at risk of the same diseases as smokers.
15 years after you’ve stopped smoking, your risk of heart attack falls to the same as someone who has never smoked.
3-9 months after quitting smoking, coughs, wheezing and breathing problems improve as lung function increases by up to 10%.
72 hours after quitting smoking, breathing becomes easier. Bronchial tubes begin to relax and energy levels increase.