What are the health effects of exposure to secondhand smoke?
Secondhand smoke exposure is a known risk factor for lung cancer. Approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths occur each year among adult nonsmokers in the United States as a result of exposure to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke is also linked to nasal sinus cancer. Some research suggests an association between secondhand smoke and cancers of the cervix, breast, and bladder. Breathing second-hand smoke can be more dangerous than inhaling smoke through a cigarette. It has twice as much nicotine and tar as the smoke that people smoking inhale and five times more carbon monoxide, a deadly gas that starves your body of oxygen.
