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The smoke exhaled from the lungs of smokers is called secondhand smoke containing more than 250 chemicals. They are toxic and cancer causing, including benzene, formaldehyde, arsenic, ammonia, vinyl chloride and hydrogen cyanide. Another name of secondhand smoke is an environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). About one in four people smoke, therefore it is not easy to avoid secondhand smoke (involuntary smoking or passive smoking).

Secondhand smoke irritates the eyes, nose, throat and lungs that leads to coughing, chest discomfort and excessive phlegm, causes about 3 000 deaths each year from lung cancer in non-smokers. Passive smoking caused 22 700 – 69 600 deaths per year from heart disease in adult nonsmokers.

Children have more ear infections and more often suffer from bronchitis, pneumonia, and other lung diseases who breathe secondhand smoke. They are more likely to develop asthma. Hence boys and girls who have asthma and who inhale secondhand smoke have more asthma attacks. There are 150 000 to 300 000 cases every year of infections, such as pneumonia and bronchitis in children under 18 months of age and infants who breathe secondhand smoke.

People must not smoke in your home, especially baby-sitters or others who care for your children. Children's day care centers, restaurants, schools and other places should be smoke-free. If someone wants to smoke inside, ask them to go to rooms where windows can be opened to send the smoke outside.