Does Secondhand Smoke really kill?!

Does Secondhand Smoke really kill?

My dad smokes and since he drops me to work everyday, I get some added exposure. Plus the guy I share my office with also smokes. Neither one is a chain smoker (they smoke about one every two or three hours), but I am still concerned. Should I be?

Tobacco companies and many of their supporters commonly respond to this question by saying you get worse exposure from being outdoors, around automotive traffic, or through workplace factors.

The difficulty with this response/argument is that, no matter who expresses it, no matter how well-worded it may be, and no matter how vehemently it is expressed, it is always irrelevant.

This is because it does not directly address the question.
Instead, such argument tends to mislead, and it serves to deflect the question. Its specific purpose is to avoid a direct answer.



Carcinogens, by definition, are chemicals that are known to cause cancer.

Second-hand tobacco smoke is a known carcinogen.
(US EPA, and many others, made this abundantly clear)

People who are exposed to second-hand smoke are at higher risk of cancer than those who are not so exposed.

Many people are more susceptible to the effects of second-hand smoke than others. Some people are greatly susceptible to those effects.

There are many reasons for this increased susceptibility, but it remains true that exposure to small amounts of second-hand smoke may be just as harmful to them, and possibly more, as exposure to a larger amount would be for another person.



All of this has been very well established by a great many medical studies done by accredited universities, hospitals and doctors throughout the world. over the course of years.

The immediate effects of second-hand smoke on the human body are well documented, but tobacco-related/caused cancer cannot be identified in an individual for some time, as it occurs at a cellular level and its effects are not immediately visible. Usually, when the effects are identifiable, there is a substantial problem.

Your question was " Does secondhand smoke really kill?"

The answer is an unqualified YES.


If a second question was "Am I one of those people who are more susceptible to the effects of second-hand tobacco smoke than other people, and will it kill me?", the answer must be one of only two:

Time will tell, or, Wait and see.


The risk is there.
You have some control over the risk.
The choice to exercise that control is yours.