In the United States, an estimated 46,000 nonsmokers die each year from secondhand smoke. Passive tobacco smoke has become so problematic that the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, has classified it as a known cancer-causing agent. In locations where smoking is prohibited, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, reports a significant reduction in particles and gases from tobacco products. The best way to prevent exposure from cigar, pipe and tobacco smoke is to avoid bars and restaurants that allow smoking and ban smoking in your home and car.
Step 1
Ban smoking in your car, and opt out of driving in other cars with smokers. Even if those smoking are exhaling out of open windows, KidsHealth, a website published by the Nemours Foundation, reports that smoke still lingers inside the car.
Step 2
Avoid restaurants and bars with smoking sections. Even with high-tech ventilation systems, a 2006 study published in Medical News Today indicates that restaurants and bars with smoking sections still expose those in no-smoking sections to cancer-causing pollutants.
Step 3
Work in establishments that ban smoking. Despite the smoking bans that have prohibited smokers from lighting up in public places such as airports, hospitals and schools, many employers--mostly in the hospitality sector--still are welcoming smokers, mostly restaurants with outdoor seating, certain hotels, and casinos in Las Vegas and other states.
Step 4
Avoid places where smokers congregate. No safe level for secondhand smoke exists, according to the National Cancer Institute, even outdoors. A 2007 article published in Science Daily reports that you can still be exposed to substantial levels of contaminated air by just being near a smoker outside.
Step 5
Live in a house. A 2010 study by Jonathan Winickoff, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that children living with nonsmoking parents in multi-unit apartment buildings are still exposed to tobacco smoke. This and other studies are being used to push through legislation to pass smoke-free apartment building ordinances.
Tips and Warnings
- Ventilation systems can only remove large particles affiliated with tobacco smoke, not small particles or gases.
- Going to nonsmoking establishments is the only way to avoid secondhand cigarette smoke entirely.
References
- Medical News Today: Nonsmoking Sections of Smoking Bars and Restaurants Still Get Significant Doses of Carcinogens
- Las Vegas Sun: Despite Health Risks, Casino Dealers Still Exposed to Cigarette Smoke
- Science Daily: Secondhand Smoke at Sidewalk Cafes and Other Outdoor Settings is still Serious
- New England Journal of Medicine: Regulation of Smoking in Public Housing
- NCI: Secondhand Smoke Questions and Answers
