What is secondhand smoke and why is it so dangerous?
Smoking by parents causes respiratory symptoms and slows lung growth in their children. Exposure of adults to secondhand smoke has immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and causes coronary heart disease and lung cancer. The scientific evidence indicates that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke.
Is second hand smoke more deadly than first hand smoke?
Secondhand smoke was generally believed to be more harmful than primary smoke. Mechanisms for the potency and health effects of secondhand smoke involved the smell of secondhand smoke, secondhand smoke being an infection and affecting the immune system, and personal strength being protective of secondhand smoke.
How bad is second hand smoke really?
Secondhand smoke is the third leading preventable cause of disability and early death (after smoking and alcohol) in the United States. Secondhand smoke causes 3,000 lung cancer deaths and more than 50,000 coronary heart disease deaths each year in the United States.
How bad is secondhand smoke?
Secondhand smoke is associated with disease and premature death in nonsmoking adults and children ( 3, 7 ). Exposure to secondhand smoke irritates the airways and has immediate harmful effects on a person’s heart and blood vessels. It increases the risk of heart disease by about 25 to 30% ( 3 ).
Can you give someone second hand smoke from a vape?
"Aerosols from vaping contain heavy metals and ultrafine particles," Islam said. "If somebody else is vaping in the same area, you're breathing it – those particles are entering your lungs, where they can do damage."
What happens if you breathe second hand vape?
Secondhand vape exposure was associated with increased risk of bronchitic symptoms and shortness of breath in young adults, even after accounting for active smoking and vaping.
Is it safe to vape around toddlers?
It's not safe to use vape pens or e-cigarette devices around kids. The vapor from e-cigarettes has chemicals in it that can be harmful to kids. There's another serious problem with e-smoking devices: Kids can get poisoned if they drink the liquid in nicotine delivery devices or refills.
Can my baby get second hand smoke from vaping?
Studies have found that second-hand exposure to vaping can raise nicotine levels in the bloodstream to rates similar to the levels found with second-hand smoke. Many of the e-cigarette chemicals that end up in the air your babies breathe are known to be toxic.
Is it OK to breathe vape?
And, while it's safe when taken orally as a supplement or used on the skin, it's likely an irritant when inhaled. It's been found in the lungs of people with severe, vaping-related damage. Other common substances found in e-liquid or produced when it's heated up may also pose a risk to the lungs.
How long does it take for second hand smoke to affect you?
Studies have shown that damage from secondhand smoke occurs in as little as five minutes: After five minutes: Arteries becomes less flexible, just like they do in a person who is smoking a cigarette.
How long do vape chemicals stay in the air?
However, for e-vapour products the particle concentration returned to background values within a few seconds; for conventional cigarettes it increased with successive puffs, only returning to background levels after 30-45 minutes.
Can you vape around kids?
It's not safe to use vape pens or e-cigarette devices around kids. The vapor from e-cigarettes has chemicals in it that can be harmful to kids. There's another serious problem with e-smoking devices: Kids can get poisoned if they drink the liquid in nicotine delivery devices or refills.
How does second hand smoking affect the world?
Secondhand smoking kills tens of thousands of people every year in the United States alone. It can cause sudden infant death syndrome and lung issues in children. In adults, it can lead to serious health conditions later in life, such as stroke, heart disease, and lung cancer—even in people who never smoked themselves. 1
How does an e-cigarette work?
E-cigarette devices use metal coils to heat the vaping fluid, and over time, small amounts of metals can sometimes get into the aerosol after repeated use at high temperatures. 6 . While the person vaping will breathe in the full brunt of these toxins, some will be exhaled into the air.
How many states are banning smoking in 2020?
According to the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, as of January 2020, 19 states and over 900 municipalities have included e-cigarettes and other electronic smoking devices in their laws and policies banning smoking in certain environments, such as schools or workplaces. 11 .
Is second hand vaping bad for you?
Secondhand Vaping as a Gateway. In addition to the still uncertain health risks associated with breathing in e-cigarette aerosol, being around people who vape could have other consequences—particularly for adolescents who are more likely to be influenced by social norms and visual cues.
Does vaping hurt your lungs?
Short-term studies didn’t find evidence that secondhand vaping hurts lung function , with one notable exception. Researchers found that people who were around vaping aerosol showed increases in the serum cotinine, which is a marker that someone was exposed to nicotine (an ingredient often found in e-cigarettes). 7 Given the long list of health risks posed by nicotine, more research needs to be done on how this exposure could affect someone’s lungs long-term like it can with secondhand smoke.
Can vaping affect non-vapers?
It’s still not clear how the toxins found in secondhand vaping can affect the health of non-vapers, especially long-term. The limited research available so far has largely focused on immediate health effects. That said, there are some concerns about how repeatedly inhaling e-cigarette aerosol over an extended period of time could affect bystanders’ long-term lung function and risk of allergic reactions.
Can vaping cause lung injury?
UPDATE: Recent illnesses have been associated with use of e-cigarettes (vaping). Since the specific causes of these lung injury cases are not yet known, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends refraining from all vaping products.
Does nicotine affect children?
In a paper in the journal Pediatrics, doctors looked at how nicotine from e-cigarette aerosol may affect children. Reviewing past research, they found that nicotine can harm the nervous, respiratory, immune and cardiovascular systems.
Is vaping bad for kids?
You’ve probably heard about the health risks of secondhand smoke. Now there’s growing evidence that being around vaping is also risky for kids.
What to do if you are unhappy with second hand vaping?
If you’re unhappy with secondhand vaping at local restaurants, parks, or other public places, speak up. Ask places you frequent to make their facilities smoke-free, and if you're somewhere that's supposed to be a no smoking zone but patrons aren't following suit, tell someone in a position of authority. And if you're exposed to secondhand vape because someone you love smokes or vapes, talk to them about quitting. (Get the conversation stated with these tips from NoButts.org .)
How long does it take to understand the dangers of second hand smoke?
It took decades for people to fully understand the dangers of secondhand cigarette smoke; hopefully, it won’t take as long to realize just how dangerous all types of secondhand smoke can be.
How much has the use of vapes increased in the past year?
The usage of these electronic smoking devices—AKA e-cigarettes or vapes— has skyrocketed in the past year or so. Among high school teens, for example, there’s been a 78 percent increase in vape usage between 2017 and 2018, a report by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found. And there’s reason to be concerned even if you’re not vaping: Just like cigarettes, e-cigarettes (whether they contain nicotine, marijuana, or something else) emit toxic secondhand aerosol.
How many people die from second hand smoke?
The dangers of secondhand cigarette smoke—in your home and outdoors—are well-established: It kills over 41,000 non-smoking adults in the U.S. every year, according to a Surgeon General report. And secondhand marijuana smoke contains many of the same cancer-causing substances and toxic chemicals as secondhand tobacco smoke (like ammonia and hydrogen cyanide), according to research published in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology.
How many brands of e-cigarettes are there?
Research on the impact of secondhand aerosol inhalation is still in development, and it doesn’t help that there are over 460 brands of e-cigarettes on the market. “Because these are not regulated, we don’t know exactly what chemicals are even in each kind,” says Dr. Rich.
What are the chemicals in e-cigarettes?
In fact, at least 10 chemicals identified in the aerosol emitted by e-cigarettes are on California’s Proposition 65 list of carcinogens and reproductive toxins, including nicotine, formaldehyde, lead, and toluene (a compound associated with paint thinners). Further, there might be dangers we're still not aware of.
When did California ban smoking?
In 1995 California was the first state to ban smoking in the workplace, and has been a major player in leading the charge against protecting residents and visitors from harms of secondhand smoke through an array of smoking bans that include everything from e-cigarettes and cigarettes to marijuana and hookah.
Who studied the dangers of second hand vaping?
Igor Burstyn’s study of the possible dangers of secondhand vaping attempted to “estimate potential exposures from aerosols produced by electronic cigarettes and compare those potential exposures to occupational exposure standards.” His conclusion: “Exposures of bystanders are likely to be orders of magnitude less, and thus pose no apparent concern.”
What is secondhand vapor?
Secondhand vapor (which is technically an aerosol) is the vapor exhaled into the atmosphere by an e-cig user. Like secondhand smoke, it lingers in the air long enough that anyone in the same room (assuming the room is small enough) is likely to inhale some of the exhaled aerosol. As the name indicates, the bystanders are not inhaling secondhand (or passive) smoke—because secondhand e-cigarette vapor simply isn’t smoke.
What is the difference between e-cigarettes and vapor?
E-cigs heat e-liquid with a small metal coil housed in an atomizer , and the heat turns the e-juice into the vapor you see. E-cigarette vapor doesn’t have any carbon monoxide or tar, and the particles in the aerosol are liquid rather than solid. Dangerous chemicals and metals are found in vapor, but only in tiny quantities.
Is third hand nicotine inhaled or exhaled?
What isn’t inhaled falls to the ground quite rapidly. Those concerned with “thirdhand nicotine”—the unabsorbed nicotine that lands on floors and furniture—might make a case for not vaping around kids or pets who might lick the surfaces. But there’s not much nicotine left in the settled residue. According to a 2016 University of California-San Francisco study, 93.8 percent of the inhaled nicotine is retained by the user, and is not part of the exhaled vapor.
Does vaping contain VG?
Aside from propylene glycol and glycerin (PG and VG) —the two glycols that make up the base of virtually all e-liquids—what vapers exhale into the air doesn’t contain high levels of anything. According to Drexel University toxicologist Igor Burstyn, while the contents of e-cig vapor inhaled by users “justifies surveillance,” there is so little contamination in exhaled vapor that there is unlikely to be any risk for bystanders.
Can you vape inside a house?
If you encounter people vaping inside a house, all of the secondhand vapor you see comes out of the mouths of the vapers in the room. There is no side stream “vape smoke” like there is side stream tobacco smoke from cigarettes—no constant emission of vapor pouring from the device when it’s not being used.
Is nicotine in vapor residue?
But there’s not much nicotine left in the settled residue. According to a 2016 University of California-San Francisco study, 93.8 percent of the inhaled nicotine is retained by the user, and is not part of the exhaled vapor.
What makes secondhand smoke dangerous?
All smoke from burning nicotine products contains harmful chemicals (toxins). Even nonsmokers inhaling other people’s smoke breathe in these toxins. Side stream smoke from the end of a cigarette, cigar or pipe is unfiltered. It has more harmful toxins than mainstream smoke that someone breathes out.
What are the risks of secondhand smoke?
Children exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely to experience: Frequent coughing, sneezing, shortness of breath or other breathing problems. Frequent ear infections. Frequent and more severe asthma attacks.
How does secondhand smoke affect nonsmokers?
Secondhand smoke damages the body in many different ways. Adults exposed to secondhand smoke may experience:
When does secondhand smoke damage start?
Studies have shown that damage from secondhand smoke occurs in as little as five minutes:
Who is at greater risk of damage from secondhand smoke?
Secondhand smoke affects anyone near burned or exhaled tobacco, but some groups have more smoke exposure:
How is secondhand smoke exposure diagnosed?
If you regularly breathe in someone else’s smoke, your doctor may test your saliva (spit), urine or blood for amounts of inhaled nicotine.
What is the outlook for people exposed to secondhand smoke?
Regular exposure to secondhand smoke can damage your heart and lungs. The best way to stay healthy is to avoid secondhand smoke. Many cities and several states now ban smoking in public places. These bans lower but don’t remove your risk for secondhand smoke exposure.
