Passive smoking affects two kinds of population: - Children, who cannot defend themselves.
- Non-smoker adults, who must be aware of the dangers and avoid them. Even before birth, a child can be a tobacco victim.
Obviously this is true if the mother smokes or if she is a non-smoker and the father smokes, or if she stays in a smoking environment. The effects of this can be premature births, malformations and abnormally low birth weights. For young children, a smoking environment leads to respiratory infections, ear infections, contributes to asthma attacks and is a risk factor for cot deaths.
The child is not aware of the danger that tobacco smoke represents and will not try to protect himself from it. A child spending 80% of his time in confined places and inhaling smoke will generate a habit and, later, a dependency. Smoke contains more than 4,000 products, most of which are toxic, and 40 carcinogenic substances that are inhaled by the smoker as well as by those close to him. A non-smoker whose spouse smokes has a 25% increased risk of suffering from lung cancer.
Other diseases, such as cardio-vascular disease, are possible as well. Airing a smoky room minimizes the smell of tobacco, but only partially eliminates the chemical components that smoke is made of.
The air quality in a room where a smoker has been remains bad long after the smoker has left. Even though public places tend to be non-smoking areas, it is sometimes difficult to avoid tobacco annoyance.
The non-smoker person, for his/her well-being, will favour places where smoking is forbidden (bars, restaurants, discotheques…)
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