Health Risks of Secondhand Smoke and Aerosols Factsheet
Información disponible en español
This resource provides information about the health risks of secondhand smoke and aerosol.
- Download the factsheet: ShS-Health Risks Factsheet (pdf)
- Text version of the factsheet
Text Version of the Factsheet
Health Risks of Secondhand Smoke and Aerosols Factsheet
Smoking tobacco and marijuana — and vaping with e-cigarettes and other devices — can release harmful chemicals into the air. People around the smoker or vaper are also exposed to these chemicals. This is called secondhand exposure.
Avoiding smoking and vaping inside or near homes, buildings, vehicles, and other enclosed spaces can stop secondhand exposure and the health risks that may come with it.
Secondhand Tobacco Smoke
- Secondhand tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals. It can cause lung cancer, heart disease, and stroke.
- Secondhand tobacco smoke exposure can result in early deaths among nonsmokers.
- Secondhand tobacco smoke can cause health problems in infants and children. Problems include sudden infant death syndrome and respiratory and ear infections. Secondhand smoke can also cause more frequent and severe asthma attacks in children with asthma.
- There is no safe level of secondhand tobacco smoke exposure.
Secondhand Marijuana Smoke
- Secondhand marijuana smoke is a mixture of the smoke from a burning marijuana product and the smoke a smoker breathes out.
- Secondhand marijuana smoke can expose bystanders to potentially harmful chemicals.
- Secondhand marijuana smoke has many of the same toxic and cancer-causing chemicals as tobacco smoke, some of them in higher amounts.
Secondhand E-Cigarette (Vape) Aerosol
- E-cigarettes and other electronic smoking products heat a liquid that makes an aerosol. The liquid usually has nicotine, flavorings, and other chemicals. The aerosol is a mix of tiny particles and/or droplets in the air.
- Some of the harmful substances emitted in secondhand e-cigarette aerosols are the same as those emitted in secondhand tobacco smoke.
- Aerosols from electronic smoking products can have possibly harmful chemicals, including nicotine, formaldehyde and metals—some of which cause cancer and other harmful health effects.