Jessica: Hi! I am Jessica from Bozeman, Montana, I am 27 years. I was just wondering if secondhand smoke is really more dangerous than firsthand smoke.
Dr. William McCarthy: Great question Jessica, I am glad you asked it. The secondhand smoke is generally less dangerous than smoke smoked directly. However, if you took the nose of a nonsmoker and put it right next to the burning end of a cigarette, yes, it's true that because of the lower temperature of the smoke at the end of a cigarette, you would find a greater concentration of toxins and carcinogens, but for the average nonsmoker in the smoking room, typically the distance between the burning end of a cigarette and the nose is sufficient to allow a lot of dilution in the smoke. So, there will be less negative reaction when inhaling the secondhand smoke than the direct smoke.
However despite secondhand smoke being less dangerous, for people who are very sensitive, asthmatic for instance or people who have active heart disease, even minimum exposures can be a very significant health risk and that's part of the reason why societies passing regulations and policies trying to protect these involuntary smokers; these nonsmokers who don't want to inhale other peoples' smoke. I think we should support that very strongly.
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