Smoking around others

It is well established that secondhand smoke is a serious risk to health. Secondhand smoke is a cause of early death and disease in children and non-smoking adults, and there is no safe level of exposure.

What is secondhand smoke

Secondhand smoking is the term used to describe exposure to tobacco smoke or the chemicals in tobacco smoke. Secondhand smoke includes the smoke exhaled by a smoker as well as the smoke emitted from the end of a burning cigarette. When a person breathes in this smoke it is called passive smoking.

Effects of passive smoking

The chemicals found in tobacco smoke can cause a wide range of adverse health effects, including respiratory diseases, heart disease, heart attacks, strokes and cancers.

Protecting others

The best way to protect your loved ones is to quit smoking. The desire to protect friends and family can be a great motivator to quit. If you are not ready to quit smoking, the next best option is to make your home and car smoke free.

Smoking around infants and children

When infants and children are exposed to secondhand smoke, they are at increased risk of:

  • Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
  • Lower respiratory illnesses
  • Middle ear disease
  • Cough, phlegm, wheeze and breathlessness
  • More severe asthma
  • Slow lung growth

How smoking affects families

As well as the dangers of secondhand smoke, parental smoking is a risk factor for children starting to smoke. Adolescents also have a greater risk of becoming smokers or experimenting with cigarettes the more years they were exposed to a parent’s smoking when they were a child.

Every month, 10 Western Australian children lose a parent to smoking. Many smokers will say that of all people close to them, their children were the ones who most wanted them to quit.

Additional benefits to your family if you quit smoking are:

  • You are being a good role model and decreasing the risk of your children becoming smokers themselves
  • You will have more time, energy and stamina to play with your children
  • You are protecting them from the dangerous chemicals found in tobacco smoke
  • The earlier you quit, the more likely your children will be non-smokers

How to protect your family from secondhand smoke

To protect your family from secondhand smoke, you should

  • Make your home and car smoke free, no exceptions
  • If you're smoking outside your home, do not smoke near open windows or doors
  • Place smoke free stickers around the home, on your car or on the pram (get them here)

However, the best way to protect those around you from secondhand smoke is to quit smoking.

Smoking when pregnant

Quitting at any time during your pregnancy will reduce the risk of harm to you and your baby and staying quit will benefit you both too.

The benefits of a smoke free pregnancy include:

  • More likely to have a natural birth without complications
  • Decreased risk of miscarriage
  • More likely to have a full term pregnancy
  • Less risk of SIDS
  • More likely to have a healthy baby who settles and feeds easily
  • You and your baby require less care in hospital and are more likely to be discharged early
  • Better growth and development of your infants brain and lungs
  • Decreased risk of your baby having a cleft lip or being cross-eyed

It is never too late to quit, but the earlier the better. As soon as you stop, you and your baby will benefit. For more information contact your health professional, call the Quitline or download the free Quit for you, Quit for two App.