What is passive smoking?

What is passive smoking?

Passive smoking, or second hand smoking, means breathing in other people’s tobacco smoke, also known as second hand smoke.

Second hand smoke comes from burning tobacco, including cigarettes, pipes, cigars and shisha pipes (hookah). It consists of the smoke the person breathes out and smoke from the burning tobacco. Most of it is invisible, but it spreads easily and can stay in the air for hours. It can also build up on surfaces, furniture and clothes. This is called third hand smoke. Tobacco smoke contains over 5000 chemicals. Many of these chemicals are harmful and some can cause cancer. Find out more on our What’s in a cigarette page.

Second hand smoke isn’t the same as second hand vapour from e-cigarettes (vapes). You can read more about e-cigarettes on our Is vaping harmful page.

If you smoke, stopping completely is the best thing you can do to protect the people around you and benefit your own health.

Read our tips and support for stopping smoking for good.

If someone you care about is interested in stopping smoking, you could share these tips with them.

What are the risks of passive smoking?

Passive smoking isn’t safe. It increases the risk of smoking-related diseases. It can cause lung cancer, heart disease and stroke. It may also increase the risk of some other types of cancer, such as breast cancer, and a serious lung condition called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In the short term, it can also cause uncomfortable effects like coughing, headaches, a sore throat and eye and nose irritation.

How can I protect people around me from passive smoking?

The only way to protect your loved ones from passive smoking is to keep the environment around them smoke free. Only smoking in certain rooms or opening a window isn’t enough. Smoke can spread from room to room and stay in the air for hours, even if you open the windows. It can also build up on surfaces, furniture and clothes.

The best way to keep your home smoke free is to stop smoking completely. We know that stopping smoking can be hard. There are things you can do to help reduce second hand smoke exposure until you’re able to stop completely.

• Always smoke outside and away from the house, and ask visitors to do the same, to stop smoke drifting inside.

• Never smoke in the car or let anyone else smoke in the car.

Second hand smoke can reach very high levels inside a car, even with the windows open, because it’s a small, enclosed space. In the UK, it’s against the law to smoke in a vehicle with anyone under the age of 18 inside.

Second hand smoke and pregnancy

Breathing in second hand smoke during pregnancy can have serious risks for the baby during pregnancy and after birth. This includes an increased risk of low birth weight and cot death.

It is not clear yet if there is a link between exposure to second hand smoke before birth and childhood cancer.

Whether you’re about to become a parent, grandparent, or live with someone who’s pregnant, the best thing you can do to protect the unborn baby is to stop smoking completely.

Passive smoking and children

Children and babies exposed to second hand smoke are at higher risk of health conditions including:

• Asthma

• Bacterial meningitis

• Cot death

• Middle ear infection

• Respiratory infections

And the dangers of smoking around children go beyond second hand smoke. Children who have family members who smoke, or live with people who smoke, are more likely to start smoking themselves.

Find out more