Is passive smoking really a threat?

Cigarette smoke very often upsets the non-smoking environment; in a confined space, it is also the most dangerous source of domestic air pollution. Passive smoking is known to aggravate existing pathologies and create new ones, which can lead to premature death. Therefore, passive smoking poses a threat to the health of people who do not smoke and all the more so for that of children.

To smokemeans inhaling about 4,000 chemicals, including more than 60 carcinogenic. If the risks are less than for a smoker, the consequences on the health of a non-smoker are however very real.

The smoking passive meets a simple definition. This is the fact " unintentionally inhaling the smoke from one or more smokers " Is it dangerous? The answer is just as simple and is contained in a single figure, communicated by the Ministry of Health: each year in France, the smoke of others causes the death of more than 3,000 people!

Passive smoking for an adult

Of course, the specific responsibility of the passive smoking is always difficult to appreciate. However, the International Center for Research on Cancer (CIRC) ofWHO in Lyon, it has been included since 2005 among the carcinogenic substances for humans.

Public health France reminds you: for a non-smoker, passive smoking increases that of 25%accidents coronaries, exposure to cigarette smoke increases the risk of developing heart attack, But it also damages the walls of arteries and doubles the risk ofstroke. In the presence of a spouse who smokes, passive smoking is likely to favor the appearance of a lung cancer in a non-smoker.

Passive smoking for a child

Disorders fertility in women, stunting in utero, low birth weight and sudden infant death syndrome… The consequences can also be dramatic for the unborn child or the young child. Without forgetting then the risks of lower respiratory infections,otitis and asthma in the child exposed for example to parental smoking.

As summed up by the National Federation of Cancer Control Centers (FNCLCC), " currently available scientific data justifies that the authorities act to ensure the protection of non-smokers " For this reason, since 1er February 2007, smoking is prohibited in all public places or constituting workplaces.

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