Secondhand smoke, also known as environmental tobacco smoke or ETS, is a combination of the smoke coming from the lit end of a cigarette and the smoke exhaled by a person smoking.
Public health officials have concluded that secondhand smoke from
cigarettes causes disease, including lung cancer and heart disease, in
non-smoking adults, as well as causes conditions in children such as
asthma, respiratory infections, cough, wheeze, otitis media (middle ear
infection) and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. In addition, public health
officials have concluded that secondhand smoke can exacerbate adult
asthma and cause eye, throat and nasal irritation.
The public should be guided by the
conclusions of public health officials regarding the health effects of
secondhand smoke when deciding whether to be in places where secondhand
smoke is present, or if they are smokers, when and where to smoke around
others. Particular care should be exercised where children are
concerned and adults should avoid smoking cigarettes around them.
The conclusions of public health officials
concerning environmental tobacco smoke are sufficient to warrant
measures that regulate cigarette smoking in public places. In places where cigarette smoking is permitted, the government should
require the posting of warning notices that communicate public health
officials' conclusions that secondhand smoke causes disease in
non-smokers.