Second-hand smoke is dangerous and contains more than 4000 chemicals. Second-hand smoke also contains twice as much tar and five times as much carbon monoxide, which reduces the amount of oxygen in the body.
Regular exposure to Second-hand smoke can increase a person’s risk of contracting lung disease by 25 per cent and heart disease by 10 per cent, and is linked to the deaths of at least 1,000 non-smoking Canadians every year.
Not only adults suffer. In children, the effect of second-hand smoke is associated with bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma, respiratory symptoms, and middle ear infections. It also increases the risk for SIDS – sudden infant death syndrome.