What is second-hand smoke?

Second-hand smoke is a mixture of the smoke given off by the burning end of a cigarette, pipe, or cigar (sidestream smoke), and the smoke exhaled by smokers (exhaled mainstream smoke).

  • SECOND-HAND SMOKE is also called environmental tobacco smoke (ETS),
  • Exposure to SECOND-HAND SMOKE is also known as involuntary or passive smoking.
  • SECOND-HAND SMOKE contains more than 4,000 chemical compounds of which at least 250 are known to be toxic or carcinogenic

Is smoking in the home and car usual?

  • 56% of Scottish people recently surveyed said ‘people cannot smoke anywhere in my home.’
  • 70% of Scottish people recently surveyed said they did not allow smoking in the vehicle they regularly travelled in.
  • 17% of all Scottish adults say they are exposed to smoke in their own or other people’s home.

People often think they can remove the risk from tobacco smoke by:

  • Opening windows or doors in the home or car
  • Smoking less
  • Not smoking in front of children
  • Smoking in one room
  • Smoking under an extractor fan in the home or using car ventilation
  • Using air purifiers or fresheners
  • Burning candles
  • Smoking in a room when people aren’t around

The ONLY way to completely reduce exposure to SHS is to smoke completely outside the home. Ventilation or smoking at the back door still leaves substantial amounts of smoke in the household air.