Passive Smoking: The Health Risks And What You Need to Do to Curb Its Impact

08 Jan 2022

. Passive smoking is breathing in other people's tobacco smoke (second-hand smoke)

·  It can increase the risk of cancer, heart disease and many other conditions

·  There is no safe level of passive smoking, and it is particularly dangerous for children

·  Using an advanced air purification system can be a smart way to keeping oneself safe

Exposure to harmful toxins in secondhand smoke can potentially cause serious health issues like heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, severe asthma attacks, and other such complications. The risks from passive smoking can be reduced to the absolute minimum through some effective measures  

 

When it comes to smoking, it’s not just your own life that you are exposing to serious health hazards. As a smoker, you are also endangering other lives at the same time – of those in physical proximity to you. We are talking about passive smoking or secondhand smoke.

Passive smoking is what you breathe in passively at the time when some source of tobacco smoke is around you. It could be the smoke exhaled by a smoker or the burning of tobacco products, or similar sources of smoke.

As per the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), it is a mixture of more than 6,500 tiny particles that can potentially cause serious health issues like heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, severe asthma attacks, or other such complications.  

Secondhand smoke has the following poisonous chemicals:

·  Ammonia

·  Benzene

·  Cadmium

·  Cyanide

·  Formaldehyde

For households, smoke is not the only thing to worry about — the residue that holds on to surfaces is also a concern, particularly for young children who are highly susceptible to the risk of these chemicals because of their everyday exposure to soiled sources like carpets.

Furthermore, pregnant women and people with respiratory problems are especially vulnerable to secondhand smoke.

Here are the possible impacts of secondhand smoke on human health:

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS):

Secondhand smoke can lead to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). While the way SIDS impacts newborns is still not very clear, experts believe this might be caused by changes in the lungs. During pregnancy, exposure to secondhand smoke may affect the baby’s development process. Newborns exposed to smoke are more likely to get impacted.  

The Risk of Lung Cancer:

Secondhand smoke includes several harmful chemicals that can potentially be harmful to your lungs. It contains the same cancer-causing toxins that smokers breathe in. Inhaling these toxins can increase the odds of getting lung cancer by 15-25%.

Protective Measures to Control the Impact of Secondhand Smoke:

The most effective step is to avoid exposure to passive smoking. Don’t let anyone smoke inside a closed space, because opening up windows and using ventilation systems can no longer be helpful in mitigating the exposure to harmful toxins.

You should also keep cleaning up some common household products like carpets, furniture or car upholstery to get rid of the residuals. Cleaning and replacing curtains and blankets can also be very helpful as they accumulate harmful chemicals if not cleaned periodically.

Use Advanced Fully-Loaded Air Purification System:

Using air treatment systems can also help neutralize the concentration of harmful chemicals as they are efficient in capturing tiny particles as small as 0.1 microns.

On the other hand, HEPA filters along with other effective tools like an activated carbon filter, UV-C disinfector, etc. are much effective in combating the threats of secondhand smoke exposure.

PetriMed CA Air Purification System is the answer to the increasing threat of secondhand smoke and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). It is a 3-storey system tailor-made to perform air purification, disinfection, and ionization – all at once. With HEPA-14 filter, it is mechanically effective in trapping 99.999% of microbes, PM2.5, viruses, and other airborne particles.

Avoiding the sources of smoke is the most effective way to reduce exposure. If there is no immediate solution, using an advanced air purification system like PetriMed CA can be a smart way to keeping yourself safe and healthy.