Home/Healthy Living/Tobacco/Tobacco and Second Hand Smoke

Tobacco and Second Hand Smoke

There is no safe level of tobacco use or exposure to second-hand smoke

Vapes, e-cigarettes, blunts, joints, cigarettes, and cigars - all smoke and vapour are harmful to the people around you. Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in Canada.

A cigarette burning

Tobacco

Tobacco smoke contains more than 7000 chemicals, and over 50 of these chemicals can cause cancer. Exposure to second-hand smoke increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and breathing problems.

a rolled joint on a black background with white and orange smoke rising from the tip

Cannabis

Smoke from cannabis contains cancer-causing chemicals and metals. Many of the toxins found in tobacco smoke are also found in smoke from cannabis. Smoke from cannabis can also impact cardiovascular health in simliar ways to tobacco.

a hooka against a black background with white and orange smoke rising from the mouth piece

Hookah

Hookahs (also called waterpipes) are devices used to smoke tobacco or non-tobacco (herbal) shisha. Both can produce toxic chemicals. Smoke from hookahs may contain carbon monoxide, aldehydes, and ultrafine particles, and particulate matter.

an E-cigarette against a black background with white and orange smoke rising from the mouth piece

E-cigarettes

E-cigarettes do not produce smoke, they produce aerosol (vapour). The aerosol produced by e-cigarettes is not just "harmless water vapour". Second-hand aerosol may include nicotine, partiulate matter, metals, and toxic chemicals.

What is in tobacco?

The burning of tobacco produces smoke that contains more than 7000 chemicals including nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide. These chemicals are harmful to the person who is smoking, but also those exposed to smoke.

Nicotine is an addictive drug that affects the brain and nervous system. It acts as a stimulant and increases heart rate and breathing. At higher doses nicotine is a deadly poison that has been used as an insecticide.

Tar is made up of thousands of chemicals, and many of these chemicals can cause cancer when inhaled.

Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas formed when tobacco is burned. Carbon monoxide lowers the amount of oxygen carried in your blood, and therefore limits how much oxygen your body gets.

What is second-hand smoke?

Second-hand smoke may also be called environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), passive smoking or involuntary smoking. Exposure to second-hand smoke happens when smoke from burning tobacco is inhaled, or when smoke breathed out by someone who is smoking a cigarette, shisha, pipe or cigar is inhaled. But, second-hand smoke doesn’t just include tobacco products. Exposure to second-hand smoke and vapour can also happen from the burning of cannabis or the use of electronic cigarettes. Many of us breathe in second-hand smoke and vapour in public places, such as around doorways of buildings, on patios and walking on the street. When you are near someone who is smoking or vaping, you and everyone else around them are smoking and vaping too.

How to get help to become tobacco free

There are many resources available in our community to become tobacco free.